A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 6/24 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sorry you didn't like Naples. I had an excellent meal there 3 years ago and was considering it again this year. Perhaps I'll just skip it and try something new.
He was, but then again, all Eeyores are cute in my eyes!
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Great timing on your meal to avoid yet more rain. Sorry that your entrees were not impressive as from some of your pictures it reminded me of Via Napoli, which we love.
Well, as they own the restaurant, I just find it a shame that the two differ so much.
Monday 24 December – part ten: this is a pretty impressive view!
When we got back to our room, there were three Disney security people standing around one of the rooms nearby. You should’ve seen Mark – he had his eye to the spyhole in the door, trying to find out what was going on. He was so obsessed, he suggested going out, and I said we’d do something useful, and go and find the Paradise Pier viewing terrace, so off we went, and there were members of the fire department now there as well. Now I’m starting to get worried, although they reassured us it was because an alarm was going off in one of the rooms. It was all a bit odd, and a lot of people around, but they’d all gone by the time we got back…
The view from the sixth floor was pretty impressive….
… and we easily found the viewing terrace. Wow, what a great view this has!
We headed back to the room briefly, but we had to be out by 1:00pm, as we were taking the Art of the Craft Theme Tour around the Grand Californian, something I’ve always wanted to do, but have never got round to doing.
We met our guide Brenden in the lobby, and our group was quite large, about 16 of us, but I guess people aren’t keen on doing this on Christmas Day…
We started off in the lobby with some explanation about the Arts and Crafts movement, which I was grateful for, as despite having heard of it in connection with some of Disney’s work, I really didn’t appreciate what it actually was.
Then we moved towards the registration area to look at the photos here, one of which was the Grand Californian during construction, while the other two were inspiration for it. One was, I believe, Frank Lloyd Wright’s house from Pennsylvania, although my memory fails me as to its name. This showed how they incorporated nature into the design, which is what the Arts and Craft movement is all about, using what was already there, including waterfalls, and ensuring the tree line wasn’t broken. I really do not remember where the other place was, except it was California and I don’t think it’s there any longer.
Brenden then explained as part of the construction of the Grand Californian, Disney ran an artisan programme, where various artists submitted works of art, which were then used in the resort. One example are these dancing bears underneath the guest services and registration desks, which depict different bears in different seasons…
… and another are these lamps:
He also pointed out a hidden Mickey in the Grand Californian logo, which I’m sure you can all spot easily enough.
From there, we walked into the main area of the lobby, learning about the four cases in each corner of the lobby, which all contained different crafts….
In case you’re wondering about the lighting of these shots, they were taken early the next morning…
… the floor, which represents the California state flower, the poppy, although here it’s closed up, because it’s not in direct sunlight…
Brenden also explained that the carpet usually continues this theme, but at the moment, it’s being replaced for the second time since the resort opened. They figured with the Christmas tree coming in, it was a good time to do it.
Talking of the Christmas tree, he also explained that forced perspective was used here, with the ornaments at the bottom a lot bigger than those at the top to make it appear taller, and when you look closely, you can see that.
Next: learning all about the art of the Grand Californian
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Awesome views from the top! I had no idea that even existed. Very cool.
The tour sounds most interesting!
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That is so funny Mark looking through spyhole, that would be something I would do. Probably I would have walk next door to see if anyone was hurt, but that's just me. All of the Art work in Disney is facinating to me. I have seen some of the Christmas Trees they decorate with such great themes.
That tour sounds very interesting. Is it a free tour or something you schedule and pay for?
It's free to guests staying at the resort (I genuinely don't know if it's open to anyone not staying there ) but you have to schedule at least 24 hours in advance, so they know numbers.
I was cracking up at your comment about Mark looking through the peek-hole. I even had the mental picture. Although I must say that my husband would've done the same thing.
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I would have been just like Mark, trying to figure out through the peek hole what was going on. The terrace had awesome views! The art tour sounds so interesting, too.
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Sorry that your entrees were not impressive as from some of your pictures it reminded me of Via Napoli, which we love. 
You should’ve seen Mark – he had his eye to the spyhole in the door, trying to find out what was going on. He was so obsessed, he suggested going out, and I said we’d do something useful, and go and find the Paradise Pier viewing terrace, so off we went, and there were members of the fire department now there as well. 
Now I’m starting to get worried, although they reassured us it was because an alarm was going off in one of the rooms. It was all a bit odd, and a lot of people around, but they’d all gone by the time we got back… 
) but you have to schedule at least 24 hours in advance, so they know numbers.
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