The Surviving Deployment Trip Report, Updated 10/18 COMPLETE!! - Page 24 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 loved that hat you tried on as I was going to buy a sundress in that same pattern!!!! Isn't just so cute? Those nachos looked so Yummy!!! Can't wait to read more....
Just catching up...we just got back last night. Sorry about the non-magical CM. That isn't the way you want to start your experience at POP. Cool pics of the resort. We swung by there yesterday on our way to the airport to pick up some POPers.
Sounds like a great start to the trip, your lunch looked yummy and glad that everyone (inclduing Michael the Bear) enjoyed a quick snack before heading for some fun.
Laura-
Hi! First of all....you are adorable! You remind me of this friend of mine from college actually...
Anyway, I am sorry you got sick! I caught a bug down there as well as when we returned late Tuesday night, I had some bad stomach stuff happening and then I had a low-grade fever for the next 3 days! (no other symptoms though except for being sooo tired!).
I am wondering what you got sick with, I know Liz also got a cold I think! Geez, those germies are running rampant down there!
So, I'm sorry your CM that checked you in was a sour puss! Ugh. I hate that. I really wish I could have met you and Victoria and Michael! I love your TR so far and all the pics!
Can't wait to hear more! What did you end up doing on Sunday since you didn't do AK?
__________________
Lori
“I’m in a Disney state of mind……”
Authorized Disney Vacation Planner w/Fairy Godmother Travel For a Pixie Dust Sprinkled Trip!
Sorry you got sick, but sounds like you had a great trip anyhow!
Man, what a deal you got on the hotel and dinner: Great start!
We stayed at Pop last year and loved it! But, we also had a wait at DME for the Pop bus also.
Can't wait to hear more.....
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Laura-
Hi! First of all....you are adorable! You remind me of this friend of mine from college actually...
Anyway, I am sorry you got sick! I caught a bug down there as well as when we returned late Tuesday night, I had some bad stomach stuff happening and then I had a low-grade fever for the next 3 days! (no other symptoms though except for being sooo tired!).
I am wondering what you got sick with, I know Liz also got a cold I think! Geez, those germies are running rampant down there!
So, I'm sorry your CM that checked you in was a sour puss! Ugh. I hate that. I really wish I could have met you and Victoria and Michael! I love your TR so far and all the pics!
Can't wait to hear more! What did you end up doing on Sunday since you didn't do AK?
Well thank you so much!
I think I got a big, nasty cold. Lots of congestion, a bad cough, that kind of stuff. I'm not sure if I ever ran a fever because I didn't have a thermometer.
I wish we could have met y'all, too. I hate that I got turned around and confused. Add that to my medicine head, and I wasn't on top of things. Maybe there will be a next time!
Day 1, Part 3
We hopped on the bus to DTD, and it dropped us off at The Marketplace. We only had a short time here before our ADR at 1900 PF, so we knew we'd just be breezing through any shops we wanted to see.
I love the brooms. They are so classic Disney.
Of course, Michael has to get in on the action. You'll see he's quite the camera hog.
Victoria and Michael being silly.
We checked out some shops and started a wish list. WOD is our favorite, of course.
And I had to get a picture of Pegleg Pete. POTC isn't quite the same without him hanging around.
We loved this hat. Perhaps Victoria will get it when we go back. It is very cool.
We went into Pooh's Corner and looked around. Victoria was looking for Pooh & Piglet plushes. I wandered around and took some pictures.
As I was taking pictures, a CM asked Victoria about Michael the Bear. She told him that the bear represented her daddy who was in Iraq. Then the CM said to another CM, "Oh yes. She deserves one." Well, that piqued my curiosity, and I walked over to see them filling out a small Magical Moment certificate for Victoria. They were so touched by her daddy being in Iraq. Then, they said, "How about we get one for your dad, and you can send it to him." So, the CMs got out a big Magical Moment certificate and had Victoria fill it out for her daddy. The reason was because he's the best daddy in the world. I totally teared up and didn't even think about taking any pictures. They said we needed stickers and proceeded to give us Mickey stickers to wear, and then the CM who originally asked about the bear pulled out a huge roll of Mickey stickers and gave us the whole roll to send to Michael in Iraq. I told him he would love to pass out Mickey Mouse stickers to his soldiers. Well, that's when I started to cry and couldn't even talk anymore. It touched me so much. That is Disney magic at its best.
I can't wait to send the roll of stickers to Michael. I have a box ready to send to him tomorrow.
After Pooh's Corner, we headed to the bus stop to catch a ride to the Grand Floridian.
UP NEXT: Dinner with a Prince! ...and a Princess...
Ohhh - those CMs were so sweet! I can't wait to hear what your DH thinks of his Mickey stickers. And I have a feeling you probably have many more 'magic moments' on this trip.
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