Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This is turning out to be a lovely morning! Quite relaxing thus far, but I fear for crowds later with that super early morning open......
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Love the early morning pix. Everything seems to be working for you with the APs and the TIW. I do not think I have ever just walked through bag check at MK.
I'm caught up, and just have a few comments. First, you got some wonderful shots of KSC. What a great perspective!
I have been wondering about a stay at THV, and I think I am not in a big hurry. I have stayed at SSR once and enjoyed it, though we were in the Grandstand part and were the first bus stop, which I heartily recommend. I love Bay Lake Tower as you know!
I am sorry your visit to the Turf Club wasn't good. I have never eaten there so I was interested in your experience. I know to shy away from anything remotely related to Buffalo wings because in almost all cases I cannot abide bleu cheese.
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That empty MK was gorgeous. I was surprised to see the construction walls still up as they were all gone when we arrived on March 8, which was the day you headed home. I'm not sure how long they had been down, but everything looked lovely.
It's so funny to hear you talk about the crowds arriving and then to see all the photos with NO people! Given all you had to accomplish before making your way into the park, it's a good thing you were up and about early!
That was the saving grace of being awake at such an ungodly hour.
What an easy entry to the MK - and terrific people-less shots of Main Street! I've never done one of the vehicles up Main Street, but imagine it to be a lot fun - very VIP feeling!
I love your early morning photos. As a night owl, I hardly ever see those sights in real life. You hardly ever get to see it alone like that, but City Hall is really pretty in your photo!
I've had "ride a Main St vehicle" on my list for a lonnng time, and I'm going to have to rectify that this trip coming up. A small thing, but I always thought it'd be a cool feeling riding down that way.
Oh you will, it is a really cool feeling to ride in one - I always feel very important whenever we do it!
I'm very surprised to see the hub still under so much construction! But looks like a beautiful morning. Do we know why MK was open so early?
My guess is it was connected to the Princess half marathon weekend and I guess they were expecting big crowds for that. I know there was some discussion in my pre-trip report about why they might have such long hours and people came up with ideas, but I don't remember them now. Perhaps there were schools out somewhere?
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Wow, jet lag can really come in handy at Disney. Checked out, checked in, AP's, and inside MK for a private carriage ride down Main Street all before 7:30 a.m. is impressive! The only time I can make it into the parks that early is when I am running a Disney race.
That's why I think the park was open that early, because I suspect they thought everyone would be up early. I guess not...
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I saw in another post that you are possibly headed our way in April, 2016. Keep us posted, it would be great to see you guys.
Depends where you are in New York, as I know it's not exactly a small state. Toronto and Niagara Falls will be the closest we'll get...
Wow!. The MK looks awesome with no one in it!! How cool that you got a private ride to the hub!! I would've put my sunglasses on and offered autographs!
Classic!
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Glad you were able to get all of your necessary tasks done so efficiently. I can't wait to hear about your day!!
Tara
P..S. I wonder where all of those people went?
The Seven Dwarves Mine Train maybe - just a thought!
This is turning out to be a lovely morning! Quite relaxing thus far, but I fear for crowds later with that super early morning open......
You'll find out in due course... don't forget today was also a day with a midday parade, as well as the traditional 3:00pm one, which is usually the sign that they're expecting serious crowds.
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Perhaps there were schools out somewhere?
The only time I can make it into the parks that early is when I am running a Disney race. 
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