A December TR - Mostly Live, Mostly Pics, A Dog, ADRS, and More ... - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Continuing the spirit of my Mostly Live TR, happy to report that we are both "Mostly Live." That is, we are not at 100%, but feeling better. Let's hope the trend continues.
Day 2 (Wed 12/12) - Dinner at Artist Point
We were both looking forward to dinner at AP, since it is one of our favorites. We checked in at the podium at 7:30pm for our 8:00pm ADR. The hostess said we could be seated, but we said we preferred to have a drink in the Lounge. "No Problem, just let me know when you want to be seated ..."
I ordered a Blue Glo-Tini. And not just to have something to take a photo of, but in honor of our younger daughter, who had one on her last trip (and we made fun of her )
Famous last words. After our cocktail, we went back to the hostess. She acted like she had never seen us, gave us a pager and said it would be about a 30 minute wait. What???? This didn't sit well with us - who wants to break the mood by waiting in the lobby again? I nicely expressed our displeasure, reminding her of our earlier check in. Long story shorter - we were seated in about 15 minutes. (Next time, I will go back to the Hostess to get a pager before we settle up at the bar).
I was concerned that this was a bad omen for dinner - Grumpy Bear was not too cheerful. However, it all worked out. Jose was our server. He started out a bit stiff, but warmed up as the evening went on, and really was a pleasure.
My food photos didn't come out well, it is so dark in the restaurant, but here goes:
Lou perusing the wine list:
The wine of choice for the evening:
Lou started with the Venison Carpaccio ...
I had my favorite - the portobello mushroom soup (I could easily have this as my main meal) ...
After the venison, Lou dug right into the Buffalo Steak. He raved about this. I did not want to taste it, so I didn't
I don't know why, but I ordered the Filet Mignon. I wasn't that hungry, and found this to be a weird dish. The filet was tasty, but a bit stringy. The mushroom ragout was so sweet I didn't care for it. I think it was just me, but I'll stick to the Salmon or Scallops next time.
Lou is actually almost smiling ...
He ate every drop of the Berry Cobler ...
Jose brought us a gift for our Anniversary - Buzz and Tink will brighten our Holidays:
So, that was dinner at Artist Point. Really had a great time, and this continues to be one of our favorites. We went back to the room - the lobby was too crowded for me to try and take photos of the tree.
Day 3 - The Morning
I was out the door at 6:30am - went over to the Main Lobby to see if I could get some better photos of the tree and lobby area. I had a new wide angle lens with me, that is a bit tricky to work with. Have just done quick edits for now, will have to have a closer look when I get home:
Another shot of the Hidden Springs Pool - you can tell it is a dreary morning, although cooler than the past few days:
The Central Lobby area at the Villas ...
I like all the old paintings on the wall, and all the nooks and crannies in the Common Area at the Villas:
That brings us up to now - 10:30am, and time to check out. We will stop by and visit the pup, then over to check in at the Beach Club Villas.
Got this in the mail from Best Friends this morning:
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Have to say your photos are blowing me away. Love the Tink and would love to know where to get one have friends that would really appreciate it
Glad that Best Friends kept you apprised of Natasha and how she was doing at CAMP our two Velcro types as well The big one helps me pack by taking everything out faster than I pack it But love going to CAMP
Loving all the photos! WL is the perfect Christmas resort. I'm impressed that both you and Lou are keeping up with the ADRs. Nice to see the shots you took of the fireworks on the night I was at the party. I couldn't believe the humidity on Wednesday morning. Wet, heavy, hot air. Hope you both continue to improve. This is a tough cold.
Great pics of the WL! Looks like a great meal at AP!
Thanks. It was a great meal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Sounds like you are relaxing - but certainly hope that Lou is feeling much better today!!! Your photos are gorgeous as always!!!
Little Miss looks happy enjoying her vacation too!
Lou seems to be feeling a bit better. And, we did visit the pup today
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
Have to say your photos are blowing me away. Love the Tink and would love to know where to get one have friends that would really appreciate it
Glad that Best Friends kept you apprised of Natasha and how she was doing at CAMP our two Velcro types as well The big one helps me pack by taking everything out faster than I pack it But love going to CAMP
Thanks, Mike. I think Tink comes with some of the specialty drinks - especially some you can get for kids. Glad to know we are not the only one with a velcro dog.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Loving all the photos! WL is the perfect Christmas resort. I'm impressed that both you and Lou are keeping up with the ADRs. Nice to see the shots you took of the fireworks on the night I was at the party. I couldn't believe the humidity on Wednesday morning. Wet, heavy, hot air. Hope you both continue to improve. This is a tough cold.
Sorry to hear you are still battling the cold as well, even though you are home now. I did think of you guys at the party when I was shooting the fireworks from CA Grill.
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Day 3 - Thurs Dec 13th - Out of the Wilderness and onto the Beach ...
We left the Wilderness Lodge right at 11am. Funny, I had done online check-in for the Beach Club Villas - and received a text at 10am saying our room was ready. I thought that was funny, since you so often don't get a text even when you check in at the desk.
First on the agenda was a stop to see Miss Natasha. We waited a few moments to get her. I took this photo (with permission) of one of the other pets ... hmmmnnn
They brought out our pup and a bowl of her food, since she hadn't been eating a lot. They have an area out back where you can sit and visit, as well as a walkway, and a play area. She wasn't too interested at first, but before the visit was over, she ate all her food.
We tried not to make a big deal about being there, keeping the stress levels down. She actually seemed okay. I think there is enough activity around that she didn't get lonely like she does if we leave her at home alone for an hour or two.
We let her run off leash in the dog park, and she happily chased some tennis balls. When we took her back to the kennel, she balked at first, but then went with the attendant without a fuss. She is also signed up for 4 hours of play each afternoon with the other dogs - so I imagine that wears her out.
Oh Wait - You thought this report was about Disney, and not a Dog We drove straight to the Beach Club and Checked in. Our room was ready - cool! 2nd Floor, overlooking the Villa Pool. We're happy once again. I'll take some pics later.
We're heading over to Epcot now, so I will catch up later with what we did for lunch and the afternoon.
Your photos are amazing! And WL is one of our very favorite resorts. Looking at your pictures are making me a bit "homesick.". Hope Lou is feeling better soon!
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