From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 38 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The weeping angels! No thank you.
I didn't know it was the first theme park, nor the year it started. Wow! Makes me all the more happier they preserved it. The banyan tree is gorgeous!
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Tanya
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I think that was the first banyan tree I ever saw - when I went to Cypress Gardens in 1980 or so. Glad they've kept a part of that park, especially with its history of first Florida theme park.
Me too. I never went to Cypress Gardens, so to be able to almost take a step back in time and discover what it might have been like was a real treat for me.
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I loved going to Cypress Gardens. It's good to know that they saved part of it. I remember the Banyan tree. It looks bigger that I remember. there used to be a sausage tree there, too.
I bet that was neat. I didn't see anything like that, but we could've missed it...
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Oh those weeping angels, I just don't like or trust them.
Liz
Excellent pictures of the hawk/eagle/falcon (?) Not something one gets to see every day, very cool!
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Originally Posted by chezp
I wasn't sure what it was. I was half hoping someone would tell me after posting the photos... anyone?
It is an Osprey. They resemble Bald Eagles in size & shape but they have different coloring/markings. They are most known for that black mask type facial feature and nesting on platforms or lights.
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Last edited by cattailmarsh; 04-17-2017 at 06:05 PM..
Nice coverage of the former Cypress Gardens . Love those of the birds and great closeups! Love those banyan trees as they are so cool and I remember there being so many of them in Key West!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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It is an Osprey. They resemble Bald Eagles in size & shape but they have different coloring/markings. They are most known for that black mask type facial feature and nesting on platforms or lights.
Oh brilliant - thank you so much for that, I really appreciate that! I can now add that into the scrapbook (whenever I get round to doing it... )
Nice coverage of the former Cypress Gardens . Love those of the birds and great closeups! Love those banyan trees as they are so cool and I remember there being so many of them in Key West!
We saw another amazing one in Maui, but I don't remember them specifically from Key West. I'm sure there were some, but I guess they were maybe a lot smaller than this one?
Tuesday 28 February – part five: the buttons bite back at Mark!
We stopped off in their Imagination Pavilion, which looks a bit different to the one we’re all used to to get a drink, as we were desperately parched by now. We didn’t like the fact that there were very few, if any, drinking water stations to be found in the park. Not good!
We came out of there, and continued to explore the park…
We found the Aquazone Water Racers, and Mark had great fun with… guess what? If you guessed a button that sprays people, you’d be right! Only he managed to soak himself as well a couple of times in the process…
We headed into LEGO City, which has a lot of fun rides…
I was a bit spooked by this, as Stoke is about 20 miles from where I grew up, and Luton is about 20 miles away from where I was born. Anyone who knows why they picked these two towns, I’d love to know.
I saw this place, and decided this was going to be my lunch!
Here’s what I got…
Mark went for this, but he kept complaining that he should’ve gone for what I got, and we think the woman took pity on him, as his seemed to have a lot in his bowl…
Once we were done eating, we headed over here, which is the newest part of the park, and beautifully themed…
We especially loved these dragons…
Next: where else can you find Star Wars and cows together?
Hahah, Mark, karma sure got you that time!
Lunch looked good--I think you definitely had the better choice, Cheryl. You sure do know your food!
All of those Lego models are amazing. After looking at them for a bit it is easy to forget that they are all made from teeny tiny little bricks!
Lunch like a grown up. Smart choice!
Glad Mark is still finding ways to play with water!
And yeah, that would be very spooky to see the names of not one, but two towns of your childhood. That probably nobody from the US has ever heard of. On display. In Florida. 4000+ miles from home.
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
While I have heard of Legoland, I have never been there or actually researched it. Therefore I have a few questions for you all...
Exactly how long of a drive from Disney is Legoland? And what child age range would this park suit the best?
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I never went to Cypress Gardens, so to be able to almost take a step back in time and discover what it might have been like was a real treat for me. 
Love those banyan trees as they are so cool and I remember there being so many of them in Key West! 
)
Only he managed to soak himself as well a couple of times in the process… 
Anyone who knows why they picked these two towns, I’d love to know. 
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