Passing through the Panama Canal - a Passporter's Tale **Updated 8/21** - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Putting the finishing details in place
Well - Lesley is at Disney enjoying the Flower and Garden Festival and I am attempting to get out of town. Three more days - all involve travel for work - but only 3 more days. I have spent the weekend running errands and trying to get ready. I just spent 2 hours packing everything into my suitcases and I am beginning to reconsider some items... I have 3 more evenings to redo anything I don't want - like for instance - should I take my own mask, fins and snorkel and carry them with me for 17 days? Or should I just rent them on Castaway Cay? Or a mix? Take my mask and snorkel, but leave the fins and rent them there? Can I rent only fins? Or will Disney require me to pay for everything? Like I said - a few more decisions to make before Thursday.
I managed to get my toenails done today - and now I need to cancel the Grand Floridian Pedicure appt I made. That decision saved me more than 30 dollars.
Here are my suitcases while I was packing -
Now to get through the next 3 days - and continue to work on culling out the excess stuff that I really may not need to bring with me....
The plans for the rest of the week -
Monday - Fort Lauderdale - 620am flight to FLL and 510 flight home
Tuesday - Drive to St. Augustine for a meeting and drive home around 5pm. I will likely complete the last of the errands I need to run this evening and complete my culling exercises.
Wednesday - Miami - 620am flight to FLL and drive to Miami for a 9am meeting. Try to get on the 510pm flight home - if I miss that flight - the last flight out of FLL is 755pm.... getting me home around 10pm
Thursday - 7am - arrive at Jacksonville Airport, pick up rental car and drive to Orlando.
SO - it will be a very busy week - that hopefully will fly by so that Thursday is here before I know it
You got so much traveling to do before the trip but I am sure that it will make the last few days fly by and before you know it you will be driving through those marvulous gates...
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Your toes look lovely! Saving $30+ is spectacular!
I know what you mean about renting v. your own snorkel gear....I like my own mask and snorkel, plus I KNOW it's clean!....and I have funny feet--short and wide so I take my own fins too.
Good luck on the culling exercise! I'm dreading that part of the return trip! That's a lot of days to pack for! I'm really interested on what you decide to take and how it works for you!
The week will fly by!
Yikes, Terri! I don't know how you do it! Hope you're able to get everything accomplished with ease! At least, all this activity may help the time pass a little more quickly....I'd be jumping out of my skin right about now! Not much longer!!
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I love it that so many Passporters are on this cruise! And I soooo wish I were going along.
I take my own snorkel/mask and swim fins every time. I just like my own and make room in the suitcase. The fins fit me well and I like how my mask feels.
And Terri - those "Vacation Toes" look fabulous!
You guys are either back in your room or are at te Adventurere's Club right now! Bon Voyage!
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