Four if by Land, Six if by Sea **Updated 2/23**COMPLETED - Page 30 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We headed back to our room after our Palo brunch feast, but our room steward had just started cleaning it. We had to make ourselves scarce for 30 minutes so Thom and I looked around the shops, bought the rest of our pictures and then decided to sit down with a CM and price a holiday cruise. We only waited a few minutes before it was our turn. We asked the CM to look at a category 3 for the four of us on a 7-night cruise in 2010. She came back with a quote over $15,000. Thom’s jaw about dropped to the floor and he screeched “Fifteen THOUSAND???” The CM reminded him that the holiday cruises were the most expensive and that it was for a 7-night instead of a 4-night. We thanked her quickly and got the heck out of dodge!
We had waited to pick up Maddie until after her “butter making” session was over in the lab, but they were still in the process when we peeked our heads in the door. They were all wearing the cutest little dairy caps (they all looked like soda jerks ) and having a blast shaking their butter concoction. Maddie saw us and immediately decided that she had had enough of butter making (apparently they had been at it for some time ) and came with us.
By this time, we could return to our clean room. Thom talked Maddie into taking a nap with him, so I grabbed my book and took off to find a reading spot. One thing that I have failed to disclose it that it was downright chilly outside. It was in the mid-50’s and, at one point, I had the captain announce “Welcome to Alaska!” Today was meant for indoor activities, so after a bit of browsing in the shops, I found a lounge chair near the lab and tried to read but ended up people watching instead.
After the flubber session, I managed to find Mary Devall in the lab which was not an easy task since this had to be the most popular of all of their activities. She was still riding high from making flubber, but she was ready to go. Our first stop was the gift shop to let her pick out her “treat” for switching sides of the bed with Maddie the night before. She decided on a Webkinz panther which she promptly named Corrina. We also found her a Minnie Mouse pin and some scrapbook supplies for me.
The “graduation” from the kids clubs was this afternoon. I knew that Maddie wouldn’t want to participate and I wasn’t too surprised when Mary Devall told me that she didn’t want to do it either. She said that she had done it before and that was enough. I had to agree with her since I didn’t want to have to fight hundreds of parents to get a decent seat in the theater (those people was absolutely vicious 3 years ago ). I told her that her dad planned to take Maddie to see HSM 3 when they woke from their nap, so we could all go if she was interested. Of course her answer was because can you really see enough HSM 3?
A little after 3 p.m., I peeked in the master bedroom to see if Thom still wanted to go to HSM 3. He was awake, but said that Maddie wanted to sleep a little longer. About that time, her eyes popped open and it was obvious that she was done sleeping. The four of us took off for the theater, bought a bag of popcorn to share and then took our seats just as the movie was starting.
We have learned quickly with Maddie that as long as she has popcorn that she is as good as gold in any type of shows or movies. She immediately took the popcorn as her own (we bought the very last bag that they had), but occasionally she would allow Thom to pass it down to Mary Devall and me. Near the end of the movie, she began to get squirmy when the popcorn ran out. About the time that she started crumpling the empty bag of popcorn, Thom took it from her and she let out a squeal. And that was the end of the movie for Thom and Maddie.
Mary Devall and I enjoyed every last bit of it and she even wanted to stay to watch the credits roll. When we returned to the room, Maddie was chilling out in front of the tv with Finding Nemo and feeling much better about the injustices in life.
Despite the distinct possibility that she would be eating chicken afterwards, Mary Devall really wanted to go to the magic show in the kids club. Thom tried to convince Maddie to go too, but she was done with the kids club for this trip. With the attention of four adults, I had the feeling that she would have good behavior during dinner and she did not disappoint me!
Thom dropped Mary Devall off at the kids club while the rest of us headed for Triton’s. For some reason, he actually beat us there. I started out with a Pomegranate Cosmo which was quite yummy! By now, James knew to immediately ask me for my cocktail selection. Thom was joining in the fun with the drink of the day - - again!
Tonight was a French theme and the night that I had the hardest time making a selection. I finally decided on the Shrimp Medley (Jumbo Shrimp on a Baby Shrimp Salad with Cocktail Sauce) followed by the Bouillabaise Soup (Chunks of Seafood and Vegetables in a flavorful Broth, served with Garlic Mayonnaise Croutons) and the Roasted Beef Tenderloin Provence, Burgundy Wine Sauce (Crusted with Rosemary and Garlic and served with Rutabaga, Sweet Peas Puree and Baby Carrots).
Let’s just say that today was a banner day for food - - first, the Palo brunch and now this gastronomic delight! Everything was simply delicious! For dessert, I chose the Crepes Suzette (Flambeed with Grand Marnier in Orange Caramel Sauce) even though Dragan warned me that they were very sweet. I may occasionally say that something is too rich, but you will rarely hear me saying that it’s too sweet. They were sweet, but oh the flavor!
Maddie was such a good girl during dinner and she was happily rewarded with Mickey ketchup and later her own Mickey Bar! The paint on her face is from her Army boot camp activity earlier in the day - - she refused to let us wash it off.
With Thom handing out the tip envelopes that evening, it was a veritable love fest between us and our servers, so there was happiness all around. We weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to these two wonderful men yet, so we promised them that we would be back for the final breakfast in the morning.
My parents headed back to the room, but Thom and I took Maddie to the gift shop since she hadn’t had a chance to shop yet. Thom had been eyeing t-shirts for the girls. When we showed Maddie the “Toy Story Musical” one since she is such a big “Toy Story” fan, she literally jumped up and down. Mary Devall had already verified for me on our trip here earlier that day that she would agree to be seen in the long sleeve t-shirt that her dad liked, so he was thrilled that he was 2-for-2 on his t-shirt selections. Maddie also picked out a very cute yet plain Chip and Dale pin for her lanyard which tickles me since Mary Devall always goes for the more glitzy ones.
Maddie’s final decision to make was which fluffie she wanted. Oh, how this girl loves her fluffies so this took a bit longer. She pretty much considered every single one in the store until she seemed to limit her search to the Toy Story gang. Imagine my surprise when she picked up Weezie, the squeakless penguin. I think I have me an underdog lover.
With Weezie in hand (and yes, he does squeak ), my baby girl was as happy as could be. We took her back to the room and she and Weezie watched a movie while we began the process of packing. It actually wasn’t too bad since we had used the handy dandy pop-up hamper that I had bought for the trip. We essentially dumped that into a suitcase, packed another suitcase with clothes that we didn’t need for Disney and one for clothes that we did need.
Once we had all of our luggage ready to go, I tagged everything and Thom moved it out into the hallway. With that done, Thom grabbed a nightgown for Mary Devall and took it to the kids club for their pajama party. I did ask him to do me one itsy bitsy favor on his way back - - run by the Cadillac Lounge and bring me back another chocolate martini.
While he was gone, I started working on our customs forms and two surveys. Those surveys really took a lot of time! I also had to hop in the shower since I didn’t want to wake up 30 minutes earlier to do that in the morning. Having a chocolate martini to sip while I did these boring tasks really helped to improve my attitude!
Once we got Maddie to sleep, I crawled in bed myself to watch a little television while Thom and my dad watched a basketball game in the living room. I was asleep by the time that Thom brought Mary Devall back to the room, but I’m pretty sure that this was her latest night of all! She apparently decided to go out with a bang!
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Jill, this trip report made me book our 3 night cruise. Ha ha I booked yesterday. I know what you mean about holiday prices. We could either go on a 3 day during the week of Thanksgiving or a 4 day over Thanksgiving itself. The 4 day was about 60% higher. hahaha We chose the 3 day. I am sure we weill book another one later in the year though for the entire family!
Jill, this trip report made me book our 3 night cruise. Ha ha I booked yesterday. I know what you mean about holiday prices. We could either go on a 3 day during the week of Thanksgiving or a 4 day over Thanksgiving itself. The 4 day was about 60% higher. hahaha We chose the 3 day. I am sure we weill book another one later in the year though for the entire family!
I am just dying over your description of brunch at Palo. I wasn't aware that holiday rates were that much higher than other times. I think I would have keeled over with a quote that high. It's really cute how attached Maddie is to Mary Devall. Can't wait to hear more!
Oh, the cuteness, it's just too much . . . .
I can't believe it's over It sounds like you guys really enjoyed yourselves and concierge is definitely the way to go!!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Since I don't have a chocolate martini to comfort me in my saddness at the impending end of this trip, I'll have to make do with the knowledge that you still have time at WALT DISNEY WORLD to look forward to!
I can't believe the cruisng part of the TR is almost over. The pictures of Maddie at dinner are just so precious!!! I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.
What a terrific way to end your trip... especially with that chocolate martini! I imagine the sadness of finishing the cruise is countered by the excitement of arriving at WDW.
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The cruise seemed to go by so fast - I can't believe it's almost over. I'm sure you felt the same way. But yea! to being able to go to WDW once you hit land!
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We only waited a few minutes before it was our turn. We asked the CM to look at a category 3 for the four of us on a 7-night cruise in 2010. She came back with a quote over $15,000. 
Thom’s jaw about dropped to the floor and he screeched “Fifteen THOUSAND???” 
The CM reminded him that the holiday cruises were the most expensive and that it was for a 7-night instead of a 4-night. We thanked her quickly and got the heck out of dodge! 
) and having a blast shaking their butter concoction. Maddie saw us and immediately decided that she had had enough of butter making (apparently they had been at it for some time 
) and came with us. 
She decided on a Webkinz panther which she promptly named Corrina. We also found her a Minnie Mouse pin and some scrapbook supplies for me. 
She said that she had done it before and that was enough. I had to agree with her since I didn’t want to have to fight hundreds of parents to get a decent seat in the theater (those people was absolutely vicious 3 years ago 
). I told her that her dad planned to take Maddie to see HSM 3 when they woke from their nap, so we could all go if she was interested. Of course her answer was 
because can you really see enough HSM 3? 
About the time that she started crumpling the empty bag of popcorn, Thom took it from her and she let out a squeal. And that was the end of the movie for Thom and Maddie. 
Everything was simply delicious! For dessert, I chose the Crepes Suzette (Flambeed with Grand Marnier in Orange Caramel Sauce) even though Dragan warned me that they were very sweet. I may occasionally say that something is too rich, but you will rarely hear me saying that it’s too sweet. They were sweet, but oh the flavor! 
We weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to these two wonderful men yet, so we promised them that we would be back for the final breakfast in the morning.
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