Don't Stop - part one of Disney trip COMPLETED - Page 23 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I love tea at the GF!! Just make sure you tell them about any allergies when you make the reservation--most of the items are prepared in advance and a chef is not actually present--but you'd love it Wendy!
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Just got caught up again! It goes without saying that your pictures are wonderful, but I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy them. They really capture the feeling of how wonderful it is to be there!
Your tea looks lovely. I really enjoyed it there, and I hope to go back someday!
Friday 11 December – part six: this Guest Assistance Card is good!
We said our goodbyes to everyone and set off to get the monorail.
Soon we were back at the Contemporary and, after a quick look at the shops, we went back to the room.
I also got some shots of the view from our room in the daylight, as it was the first time we’d seen it in the daytime...
We took the next couple of hours to sleep a bit and I had a hot bath to warm myself up, as I just couldn’t get myself warm from freezing at the Garden View Lounge earlier.
We finally headed out at about 6.40 and walked towards the Magic Kingdom, getting some photos of Bay Lake Tower and the Contemporary at night. It’s amazing how much shorter the walk is from Bay Lake Tower than it is from the Contemporary. It’s a nice perk.
We timed it just right and got there just as the park was opening for the party and were immediately in and got our wristbands.
We headed up Main Street and got some Photopass pictures done with the Christmas tree and castle behind us. That looked just as beautiful as I remembered it from two years ago. I love the ice effect on it, absolutely stunning. Whoever came up with that deserves a medal. Great idea.
We got a few more photos by the castle.
Then it was into Fantasyland. I did look at going on Peter Pan’s Flights and Dumbo, but both were 20 minute waits and, although I had my Guest Assistance Card with me, I would rather not use unless I have to. I know I have a valid reason for having it, but even so. Instead, we went into Pinocchio’s Village Haus and got some hot chocolate and a cookie to keep us going.
Then it was back out again. We went on Snow White’s Scary Adventures. This time, it really was a walk-on.
Then it was over to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That too was showing a 20 minute wait and I was so devastated that I decided to use my Guest Assistance Card. The Cast Member told us to use the Fastpass entrance and we literally walked on, which made my night.
We walked through the shop and there were a few new Eeyore items at long last, but nothing that grabbed me, so I left there empty handed. On the way out, we ran into Bob, Larry, Jill and Eileen and said hi. Apparently the challengers had finished their challenge, but the mad fools were then doing more attractions. Fair play to them, but there is no way that I could ever do that, even when I was healthy. I know we used to do a lot in a day, but even that would’ve been too much for me.