A Coast to Coast Christmas - Phase One WDW - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow!! What a surprise, how cool is that? Can't wait to hear all about it -- and see all the photos!!!
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I will share some pictures of our PP meet at the WL as soon as I figure out how to upload them to your TR It was so exciting meeting you all again and I loved getting the chance to meet Wendy, Carly and Joan for the first time! What a creative idea Bob and Larry put together for you ladies. They're not only creative but so thoughtful too. The view from the BLT room for Wishes must have been just perfect! I can't wait to hear all about your party.
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I've been keeping my lips sealed because I've known what the surprise was for quite some time now--and now I can breathe again! What an absolutely wonderful evening guys! Well done!
Thanks, everyone! And thanks, Heather, for playing along with us!
Yes, I believe there are many pictures from Party Central.
I'll note here while I still have the floor that this trip allowed me to check off two items from my Disney Bucket List: staying at the Wilderness Lodge decorated for Christmas, and staying in a DVC Grand Villa (only one night, but that counts!).
staying in a DVC Grand Villa (only one night, but that counts!).
It not only COUNTS, it rocks the socks off of Shashi's measly accomplishment (of staying in all the Disney World resorts.) Even SHE has never spent the night in a Grand Villa.
Thanks, everyone! And thanks, Heather, for playing along with us!
Yes, I believe there are many pictures from Party Central.
I'll note here while I still have the floor that this trip allowed me to check off two items from my Disney Bucket List: staying at the Wilderness Lodge decorated for Christmas, and staying in a DVC Grand Villa (only one night, but that counts!).
Perhaps Bob will add some comments, too....
It was so FABULOUS! Thank you so much for including us! Now we want to live in a BLT Villa full-time. (2000 sq feet!)
Not that I think you SHOULD trust me... 'cause I'm notoriously scatterbrained, but... sheesh!
But it did let me use some of my favorite smilies, so you're forgiven.
See, this is why we're besties. All is forgiven if I'm allowed to use my favorite smilies. Which is why I don't mind how much of this trip you've forgotten.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
Well, the important thing is finding Yak & Yeti and securing yourselves a couple of Yak Attacks. I'm just sayin'.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
No reason at all why you should! I'm notoriously bad at map-reading and that map is a bit confusing. All the trails aren't on it. Sharon, on closer look (and orienting myself right, I think!) "your" trail is probably right-- it does look like it starts right behind the fast-pass machines to the right of the lemurs. The easiest way to find it is to look for the lemurs, then go between the lemurs and the tree! (Did you ever see the Friends episode in London where Joey tries to get around by standing on the map?--that's me!)
I'm the same way! I can usually figure out a map, but it's much easier for me to just find it by walking around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
TBSAALTA = To Be Announced At A Later Time Activity
Okay, we're going to take a little time out from the chronology to reveal just what the TBSAALTA turned out to be.
Sharon was kind enough to delegate this to Bob & me.
I thought about breaking the reveal into a half dozen posts, but decided I really couldn't do that to all of Sharon's loyal readers.
Once the reveal is out of the way, I'll give you a little bit of background.
Bob & I had originally talked about revealing the TBSAALTA details later in the trip, but decided that we had had enough fun torturing everyone, so it was agreed that we would announce on our arrival day as soon as we could get everyone together. In order to include Joan, this ended up being at the Animal Kingdom park.
I had a bag containing the invitations, and the Ladies will tell you that I guarded it with my life.
After we met up with Joan and family and had our lunch and Yak Attacks , we scooted over to a nearby nook, and Bob & I presented everyone with their personal invitation. At the same time, we emailed Rich & Kathy (AKA Two4Disney), Louise, and Lesley and Tom a PDF of the invitation. Rich & Kathy were happy additions to the invitation list because they had recently moved back to Orlando. [We gave them their invitation at the "Activity".]
The pictures that follow are of the prototype, so I will skip over the front of the envelope, which had the invitee's name printed on it.
Envelope (back): seal sticker says, "Bob & Larry"
Invitation (front): "Bob & Larry Cordially Invite You"
Invitation (inside): "To an evening of conversation, munchies, wine and fireworks* Sunday, December 4, 2011 7:00 PM Theme Park View Grand Villa Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort
*Previously known as the To Be Announced At A Later Time Activity (TBSAALTA). It's time."
Invitation (back): "Another Bob & Larry Special Events Production"
So, at long last everyone now knew that the TBSAALTA was a private party in a Bay Lake Tower Grand Villa overlooking the Magic Kingdom. We would party and, at the appropriate time, move to the balcony where we would watch "Wishes" with the music piped in over the cable TV system.
A Bit of Background
In previous years, Bob and I have hosted special dinners, AKA "The Bob & Larry Dining Experience", and once hosted "The Bob & Larry Yak Attack Experience" at the Yak & Yeti Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom.
The question was, what could we do that would be different and wonderful?
We had designed and had fabricated special pins for the B&LDE, and we had designed and had made special lanyards for the B&LYAE. We discussed designing new pins, but we did not really want to repeat ourselves.
Well, I had clandestinely added on DVC points at BLT back on Thanksgiving Weekend 2010, and had received 2010 points that I had to immediately bank. Those points then had to be used in my 2011 Use Year, but I was not going to have enough vacation to take another trip. We had previously joked that we should get a Grand Villa and all stay together, and that was sort of the seed of the idea. I checked the points required for 1 night at a BLT Theme Park View Grand Villa, and it turned out to be the number banked plus 2 points!
So, the idea for a PAR-TEE was born. Once I secured the reservation, we were good to go, Then it was a matter of nailing down who to call at Disney to talk to about catering the party (Private Dining at the Contemporary Resort), deciding how we were going to decorate the villa, working up the design for the invitations, buying the wine and ice wine, deciding how to handle the reveal, and asking the very, very detailed planners to reserve Sunday night for us while withholding vital information as to why. Oh, yes, and torturing everyone with the secret for the next 10-11 months!
So, while the Ladies trekked over to the Animal Kingdom Sunday morning, Bob & I packed up what we needed from our Wilderness Lodge villa, and drove over to the Contemporary to check in. [We were, of course, going to stay over night at BLT!]
We had added everyone to the reservation, so we were able to give most everyone (except Kathy & Rich) their own key to the villa for easy access. We then took the boat to the WL for lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe. After lunch we traveled back to BLT and decorated the villa in preparation for our Grand Soiree.
It definitely lived up to the hype! Thanks again for putting it together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Okay -- the plan is to look for lemurs and if that fails, to try every trail anywhere in the region of the ToL.
Larry, I think you two may have outdone yourselves again! What an awesome surprise!
Well, you can't go wrong just wandering down any trail. Lots of little surprises in AK!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Eileen--you must have had a pretty heavy bag with all those rocks you were carrying around! I think you must have earned a treat by this point!
Ha!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I will share some pictures of our PP meet at the WL as soon as I figure out how to upload them to your TR It was so exciting meeting you all again and I loved getting the chance to meet Wendy, Carly and Joan for the first time! What a creative idea Bob and Larry put together for you ladies. They're not only creative but so thoughtful too. The view from the BLT room for Wishes must have been just perfect! I can't wait to hear all about your party.
I hope you do add some of those photos. That was tons of fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
Thanks, everyone! And thanks, Heather, for playing along with us!
Yes, I believe there are many pictures from Party Central.
I'll note here while I still have the floor that this trip allowed me to check off two items from my Disney Bucket List: staying at the Wilderness Lodge decorated for Christmas, and staying in a DVC Grand Villa (only one night, but that counts!).
Perhaps Bob will add some comments, too....
Yeah, Bob! Add some comments, will ya!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caldercup
It not only COUNTS, it rocks the socks off of Shashi's measly accomplishment (of staying in all the Disney World resorts.) Even SHE has never spent the night in a Grand Villa.
Pfft... as far as you know! Seriously, I enjoy having things left on the "to do" list and accomplishing one or two per trip. How sad would I be once I've done everything at Disney?
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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It not only COUNTS, it rocks the socks off of Shashi's measly accomplishment (of staying in all the Disney World resorts.) Even SHE has never spent the night in a Grand Villa.
Pfft... as far as you know! Seriously, I enjoy having things left on the "to do" list and accomplishing one or two per trip. How sad would I be once I've done everything at Disney?
Yay for the wacka wacka eyebrows!! Another favorite smilie!!!
And, even as much as YOU go to Disney, there will always be something new... if only to give fodder to the haters who can't stand change.
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It was so exciting meeting you all again and I loved getting the chance to meet Wendy, Carly and Joan for the first time!
What a creative idea Bob and Larry put together for you ladies. They're not only creative but so thoughtful too. The view from the BLT room for Wishes must have been just perfect! I can't wait to hear all about your party.
(2000 sq feet!)
Holly: 
forgotten. 
No reason at all why you should! I'm notoriously bad at map-reading and that map is a bit confusing. All the trails aren't on it. Sharon, on closer look (and orienting myself right, I think!) "your" trail is probably right-- it does look like it starts right behind the fast-pass machines to the right of the lemurs. The easiest way to find it is to look for the lemurs, then go between the lemurs and the tree! (Did you ever see the Friends episode in London where Joey tries to get around by standing on the map?--that's me!)
TBSAALTA = To Be Announced At A Later Time Activity 
, we scooted over to a nearby nook, and Bob & I presented everyone with their personal invitation. At the same time, we emailed Rich & Kathy (AKA Two4Disney), Louise, and Lesley and Tom a PDF of the invitation. Rich & Kathy were happy additions to the invitation list because they had recently moved back to Orlando. [We gave them their invitation at the "Activity".]
It definitely lived up to the hype! Thanks again for putting it together!
Seriously, I enjoy having things left on the "to do" list and accomplishing one or two per trip. How sad would I be once I've done everything at Disney? 
Mary - not enough trips!
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