Four if by Land, Six if by Sea **Updated 2/23**COMPLETED - Page 21 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Assure Thom that there is no bell involved in the Spa Villas. Just a discreet "tap, tap" on the Verandah door to give you a 5 minute warning! Although Shawn and I were so relaxed after our massages we pretty much went right to sleep!
Finally getting all caught up here...
How sweet that your previous waiter came over to see you guys at dinner! I bet he did remember you. I had no idea that you could order the food from the restaurant to go to the cabin -- that is good to know! Because we would be in the same situation with our rambunctious kids! And it sounded like a great dinner too.
"mom, you fell." That's classic!! Sounds like something mine would say. Gee, thanks for the help..... Good thing it was early so nobody saw! And your breakfast sounded soooooo good!!! Holy cow, what a tough decision to make on that. Funny about the sunscreen.....
Great day at Castaway Cay! You got it- you were in paradise. Albeit, a wee bit chilly, but paradise nonetheless!! I was confused at the holding hands thing too.... but it's good for a chuckle. So glad to hear Maddie was OK with leaving you guys, I would be worried about that too with our little one!
So far so good... OK, ready for more!!
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Assure Thom that there is no bell involved in the Spa Villas. Just a discreet "tap, tap" on the Verandah door to give you a 5 minute warning! Although Shawn and I were so relaxed after our massages we pretty much went right to sleep!
Okay then! We're moving up to the Spa Villa on the next cruise! I'll let him know that he needn't be scared!
What a wonderful day on Castaway Cay...the massages sounded heavenly up until the bell ringing, that would have probably left me hysterical, but I guess to feel all relaxed and massaged I could deal with the bell
Mary Devall and Maddie seem to be having a lot of fun as well, love the picture of them running towards you...looks some two little girls missed their parents.
This picture of Maddie is just adorable...love the look of the wind in her face
When we returned from Castaway Cay, the girls were delighted to find two Minnies wearing bathing suits and sarongs on our bed. Each was accompanied by a card. At first, I thought Thom had planned it, but when I read the cards I saw that the concierge team had given one to Maddie in hopes that she was feeling better and one for Mary Devall just because.
My parents later confided to me that originally they had just sent a Minnie for Maddie, but my parents were afraid that it would hurt Mary Devall’s feelings so they called and explained the situation. My mom said that within minutes there was another Minnie for Mary Devall. She was a little afraid that Thom and I would be angry at them for doing this, but I assured her that we would have done the same thing.
We also noticed on the dining room table that lots of goodies had been left for us. First, there was this note (sorry it's a little blurry).
I had to laugh when I saw that my fall had been reduced to an "inconvenience experienced on Deck 9" although it was very thoughtful for them to think of me. I was anxious to see my "gift" so I lifted the plate cover and found these.
I call these the "bust your behind" strawberries.
Each day, we received goodies from the concierge team and this was our gift today. My family loved diving into these treats so it was hard to get a picture before anything was unwrapped.
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Did that note say "on half of the entire Quick Service team" as opposed to "on behalf"? Sorry, English major here.
Maddie is so adorable in her bikini.
And I have to say, if the therapist would have tried to get me to hold DH's hand after a massage, I would drop it so fast. . .(I wouldn't want to give him any ideas)!
When my hubby and I did the spa villa in June our massages also ended with the handholding and bell thing.
My reaction was very similar to yours. First I thought why is this lady holding my hand? Then I was startled by the chiming sound. Then I realized it was my hubby's hand I was holding. Then the barely surpressed silly giggles. I'm glad I'm not the only one who reacted this way:P
I assumed the bell had some sort of meditative significance. Now you have me wondering?
Mary Devall and I went out on the balcony to check out the beautiful scenery before we left Castaway Cay. I'm not sure what's up with these poses of Mary Devall's lately. I think she's been sneaking out of her room at night to watch "America's Top Model" or whatever it's called.
The girls were caked with salt and sand, so they had a nice warm bubble bath and hair washing.
There was a DVC Member meeting that I wanted to attend at 4 p.m., so I took a quick shower after the girls were out of their bath and then headed down to Diversions. I had never even been to this bar, so it was fun just to visit some place new.
Upon entering, I was handed a gift bag with a DVC baseball hat and lanyard for everyone in my party. Most of the seats were taken, so I went to the back of the room and sat at the bar. The snacks that had been advertised were all gone, so I decided to order a glass of the Iron Horse sparkling wine! A fine decision on my part, I must say.
I’ll be honest and admit that the only reason I decided to come to this event was the hopes of winning a door prize. Although I love me some DVC, I’m just not a “rah rah” type of gal and the meeting actually took on a bit of a cult feel. As Thom loves to say, some of these people had been seriously drinking the “DVC kool aid.” I really didn’t learn anything new nor did I win a door prize, but I did have some laughs and came away with more baseball hats and lanyards that the average individual needs.
By the time I made it back to the room, Thom had taken the girls to the kids club for the evening. We had our dinner at Palo at 7 p.m. that evening, so the adults had some time to kick back and relax.
I took my book out on the balcony and enjoyed reading a little, but it was hard not to watch the gorgeous scenery too. When I came inside, Thom and I watched a bit of “Iron Man.” Aside from Disney movies, “Iron Man” was the only movie that we watched during our cruise. We never watched it from beginning to end, but we caught bits and pieces of it so many times that we were able to figure out what was happening finally. Someone at work last week actually had to fill me in on the beginning since we never caught it!
Continued in next post . . .
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Last edited by Jillybean; 02-11-2009 at 01:30 PM..
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It was finally time to get ready for our big night out! Once we were all ready, we walked to the aft elevators and took one up two decks to Palo. We were seated right away at a circular booth on the left hand side of the restaurant and were soon greeted by our server, Coralia. She was from Romania but she sounded Italian and had the most beautiful accent. We laughed throughout the meal that she looked like she belonged in our family - - I told her that she could be my little sister.
She explained the menu in depth to us and then took our drink order. I decided to go with a cosmopolitan (or two ) that night. For my entrée, I ordered a special that wasn’t on the menu, the grouper. My dad and I also pre-ordered the chocolate soufflé. My grouper was good, but at times it was a bit fishy for my taste. The chocolate soufflé with the chocolate and vanilla sauces was absolutely outstanding however! I couldn’t finish it all, but Thom was willing to step in and help me.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Palo. When we told Coralia that we were coming back for the brunch, she informed us that she would be our server again. I really like how they keep your server consistent - - especially since she was so good!
We went back to our room after dinner and all changed clothes. My parents actually went to bed, but Thom and I sat up watching a bit of tv. When our telephone rang, I answered it to find Angeline on the other end. She had just heard about my fall that morning and wanted to make sure that I was okay. Between Maddie’s bloody nose and my fall, they were probably beginning to worry about us. I assured her that I was okay and thanked her for her concern.
Thom was just about to go and check on Maddie when the pager went off with a message that “Maddie was ready to be picked up.” While he went to went to retrieve our little girl, I flipped the tv to Sleeping Beauty. Thom ended up returning with not one, but both girls, and they crawled in bed with me when they saw what I was watching.
Mary Devall was so happy at the prospect of watching one of her favorite movies so late at night that she kept snuggling up to me and giving me kisses. Maddie finally moved to the Murphy bed with Thom and the two of them continued to watch the movie on that tv. Due to getting up at the crack of dawn, I was exhausted and kept falling asleep on Mary Devall. I woke up right when the movie was ending, so I was able to turn off that tv and a sleeping Thom and Maddie’s tv before drifting off for good.
The day had started out rocky with my fall, but it had improved dramatically after that. And just to make sure that today’s “inconvenience” wouldn’t be repeated I had already placed our room service order outside!
Up next . . . Maddie and I are finally in the right place at the right time
Did that note say "on half of the entire Quick Service team" as opposed to "on behalf"? Sorry, English major here.
By jove, I think you're right! Maybe the Quick Service team shouldn't be so quick with their correspondence (fellow English major here). Oh, how I wish I had spotted that before we left the ship!
When my hubby and I did the spa villa in June our massages also ended with the handholding and bell thing.
My reaction was very similar to yours. First I thought why is this lady holding my hand? Then I was startled by the chiming sound. Then I realized it was my hubby's hand I was holding. Then the barely surpressed silly giggles. I'm glad I'm not the only one who reacted this way:P
I assumed the bell had some sort of meditative significance. Now you have me wondering?
I am SO glad that I'm not the only one who found this a bit odd! I do believe that you're right about the meditative significance. Of course, I'm one of those people who can't take yoga because I lie there thinking about what I need to be doing instead of lying there.
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Just a discreet "tap, tap" on the Verandah door to give you a 5 minute warning! 
Although Shawn and I were so relaxed after our massages we pretty much went right to sleep! 
Each was accompanied by a card. At first, I thought Thom had planned it, but when I read the cards I saw that the concierge team had given one to Maddie in hopes that she was feeling better and one for Mary Devall just because. 
Although I love me some DVC, I’m just not a “rah rah” type of gal and the meeting actually took on a bit of a cult feel. 
As Thom loves to say, some of these people had been seriously drinking the “DVC kool aid.” 
Once we were all ready, we walked to the aft elevators and took one up two decks to Palo. We were seated right away at a circular booth on the left hand side of the restaurant and were soon greeted by our server, Coralia. She was from Romania but she sounded Italian and had the most beautiful accent. We laughed throughout the meal that she looked like she belonged in our family - - I told her that she could be my little sister. 
The chocolate soufflé with the chocolate and vanilla sauces was absolutely outstanding however! 
When we told Coralia that we were coming back for the brunch, she informed us that she would be our server again. 
Between Maddie’s bloody nose and my fall, they were probably beginning to worry about us. I assured her that I was okay and thanked her for her concern.
Laura in Austin 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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