The Trip of a Lifetime to Alaska – Land and Sea – Trip Report - COMLETE!! 4/13/12 - Page 26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Those lakes are so beautiful! I can't believe you did all that sightseeing and panning for gold before lunch! Must have been amazing just being on the ship in the middle of that beautiful cove.
OK, my jaw literally dropped at the pictures of Emerald Lake - beautiful!! I teach 8th grade and part of our Canadian history curriculum is the gold rush along the Fraser River and how they panned for gold, so those pictures were especially cool for me to see!
__________________
Stacey
Why do these kids look so pathetic?
Find out in: A New Grade, A New House, and A Surprise!Final Thoughts 01/30
I feel like a broken record but with each update your photos are just gorgeous! I would love to play a round of mini golf with the Alaska scenery surrounding me!
Day 11 – Tuesday July 5th – Icy Strait Point (ISP) - Fishing and Zip Rider
I forgot some details from yesterday! After dinner (or was it before) we headed down to Guest Services to see about booking a fishing charter for the boys and zip lining for me and Alexa. I couldn’t do it on the TV as I kept getting error messages. Unfortunately for the boys, there was only 1 spot each on the halibut fishing charters that they had. They told Matt to get off the boat early and see if he’s able to get something once we got to ISP. As for zip lining, Alexa and I were booked for 11 AM.
So onto Tuesday. Matt and Colin were up early so that they could get to shore and see about a halibut charter. You have to tender at ISP, so I think they made it on the first boat. After seeing the boys get off onshore, Alexa and I headed to the Windjammer for some breakfast (it was empty again – SCORE)! Tummies full, we went back to the room, donned our raingear (as it had clouded over) and headed down to a tender ourselves. Matt had called, saying that yes, they were able to get onto a charter. Then he called back 10 minutes later saying they made a mistake, there was no room (only 1 seat each like onboard was saying). So no halibut fishing for them. L Which ended up being fine, because along with the fishing pole we had brought, he rented a pole from a guy onshore for $40 (the halibut fishing would have been $490 for the both of them) and they fished off the shore all day (and I mean ALL DAY)!
Once Alexa and I got to shore, we found them fishing. Apparently they had had quite a few bites, and even reeled some in. They were salmon (not sure which kind) but very wiggly, so they’d come right off the lure (you couldn’t use bait). While we were down there, a guy a bit down the beach caught something, and asked me to take his picture with his iPhone, because his wife wouldn’t believe that he actually caught something! Sounds familiar!
Alexa and I decided to walk around the island a bit. Where you tender is an area all built up by the cruiseline, but it is not ostentatious. It seems very true to the island. The main area of the island (Hoonah) is about a mile down the road. We didn’t venture down there, except for Alexa and I on our drive up to the top of the mountain for our zip ride. We walked around a bit, found out where the zip line ends, and a bar/restaurant that actually had cameras at the top of the mountain so you could see the people getting onto the zip line.
We went back to the shore and watched the boys fish some more. By this time, more people had come out to fish, and pretty much everyone was catching something!
Matt’s pictures!
We went to check in for our zip ride at 10:45, and wouldn’t you know it, we were delayed! L Apparently there are 6 lines, but they were only running 3 of them at the moment (we saw them running 6 earlier) because the mechanism to return the harnesses up to the top wasn’t working properly. So we were rescheduled for noon. Not that bad. Some people who were scheduled for 9:30 were also in our noon group, so I can’t complain! We were weighed (you had to be between 90 and 300) and given our wristbands, so we’d be all set to go. I think they were a tad generous on the weight. I know one guy in our group was too big and not allowed to go.
So we went back out to watch the boys fish for a bit more. As we were standing on the shore, not more than 20 feet off the coast, a HUGE humpback tail came up out of the water! Way too fast for me to get a picture, but it was an amazing sight! The whale moved around the island, and we followed it for a bit, until it was time to go back and check in again for the zip line. We had about a 45 minute drive up to the top of the mountain in an old school bus. The driver would stop along the way if someone shouted out interesting wildlife (unfortunately no bears). This woman kept making him stop for a deer. Seriously!
Once on top, we had to walk down a steep gravel drive to get to the actual zip line. They were backed up of course, and we had about a 20 minute wait in line. Finally it was our turn (they were running 6 again thankfully). Alexa was on the left end and I was next to her. Here is the video from our ride. I somehow managed to keep my camera somewhat straight for the ride! Click on the image below (my foot) and it should bring up the video!
Let me just say it was FREEZING on the ride. You’re going 60 miles an hour, and it’s only about 55 degrees out! I sat by the fire in the restaurant for quite some time to warm up! Would I do it again? Probably. Alexa really wanted to do it, so I’ll do anything for her!
Having enough fun for one day, we decided to head back to the ship, get some lunch, and of course it was pool time! We had more quiet time before dinner (I’m sure a game or two of mini golf). Again, not sure of the theme for tonight’s dinner, but it was the second formal night. Colin had his fruit cup waiting again, went for mac and cheese again, and had a cookie for dessert. Alexa had the venison. She deemed it a bit chewy, but she ate more than half of it. Not sure on her appetizer or dessert. Matt had bay scallops and shrimp. And I had a house salad, rotini and sauce for dinner, and apple/rhubarb pie for dessert. If I remember correctly, the menu was less than thrilling tonight, hence the pasta! After dinner, I think Matt and the kids tried to go see a movie, but the theater was full so they ended up back in the room. Lights out, as it was an early morning.
Ziplining looks like so much fun! I was thinking about trying it on the Big Island, but it seemed sorta pricey (starting at $179) so I wasn't sure if it was worth trying just yet...plus my daughter would've been iffy on the weight limit (on the low side), so we didn't want her to be disappointed. Maybe next time!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
What a wonderful day with so many more beautiful sights. 
The blue water looks like the water of the Caribbean
Deb
Sounds familiar! 
Apparently there are 6 lines, but they were only running 3 of them at the moment (we saw them running 6 earlier) because the mechanism to return the harnesses up to the top wasn’t working properly. So we were rescheduled for noon. Not that bad. Some people who were scheduled for 9:30 were also in our noon group, so I can’t complain! 
We were weighed (you had to be between 90 and 300) and given our wristbands, so we’d be all set to go. I think they were a tad generous on the weight. I know one guy in our group was too big and not allowed to go. 
Click on the image below (my foot) and it should bring up the video!
Linear Mode
