Chillin' with the Mouse was SUPPOSED to mean something else! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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 grew up in Orlando and remember wearing shorts on Christmas day most years. I'm sorry it was so cold on your visit and I really hope you had brought warm clothes! I can't wait to read your TR!
Let's get this report started.
First the travellers:
Me, Linda age 58, planning diva and lover of all things Disney
Hubby, Gordon age 64, willing partner in Disney travel
Celebration:
Our 26th Wedding Anniversay AND Hubby's retirement
Travel Dates: December 20-24th
Stayed at: Yacht Club (standard view)
Leading up to our trip several things came into play to change some of our nicely laid plans. A week before our trip hubby began to experience severe pain in his knee. He went to doctor and got a prescription. He sat a lot and iced the knee, pain lessened a bit after several days. We contemplated changing airline ticket from his namae to grand daughter, but it was our anniversary and we kind of wanted to celebrate it together. So after making a few phone calls, we rented a scooter from Walker Mobility.
After talking about frequency of our travel, 2 days prior to departure, I contacted and ordered the purple locker people, so now we are proud owners of the Owner's Locker to allow is to store needs between trips. Now we can avoid loading suitcases with heavy toiletries etc! Yea!!
The day before travel, I still had not been able to finish packing, yikes, anyway, came home from work, picked up take out, went to my chiropractor and massage therapist (I was in a car accident several weeks earlier) for my back. Threw final laundry into washer, drove out to visit and bid adieu to family, came home, finished paacking, set timers and alarm and hit the bed at 1:00 a.m.
Good morning Thursday December 20th!, quick shower, final bags check, and off we go to the airport.
It was pouring rain outside so much. We drove to airport, got a valet for car, at bell stand checked our luggage, procured a wheelchair for hubby, made it through security check, and found our gate. After getting hubby settled in, I went to Quiznos to get us some breakfast. We ate our food, and soon it was time to board the plane. When getting on the plane we found that the bulkhead seats had 2 people on each side so hubby sat on one side of asile and I sat on the other. Soon we were taking off.
Due to the storms it was quite a bumpy flight. I told hubby that if I closed my eyes I could swear I was riding on Expedition Everest! Any way, after 2 hours in the air, the plan landed safely at MCO, we went to baggage claim, found our bags, and waited for the driver from Quicksilver to arrive for us. We decided to forgo the grocery stop since we had deluxe dining plan and didn't need it.
We arrived at the Yacht Club, got checked in and went to our room to look around while we waited for hubby's scooter to arrive.
Next post will include photos of resort and then details of our evening at Narcoosees, andMickey's Christmas Party........Things really changed quickly this night!
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.
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.
But even more beauty awaited us when we stepped inside the lobby to check in!
"The Commodore" and a greeter met and welcomed us to the Yacht Club!
th
The Commodore posed for me in front of the Lobby Tree, all decked out in nautical style
After Picking up our keys (online checkin isn't it great) we checked out our room. Loved the look and space of the room. By the way, don't know if all other resorts have moved to the new key system, but here youno longer have to puch in your card and connect!, nope, now you just touch your card to the special security enhanced scanner on the door and voila, unlocked door. So much easier this trip.