Solo-on-a-Scooter AbD DLR and DCL Alaska! (7/21-8/7/2012) - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Weather: A replica of yesterday. High 70’s, cool breeze, sunny skies. A perfect day.
I’m getting better every day at this late morning thing—Today I slept until 7! I never do that except if I’m sick or under anaesthesia! I was up very late because of the parade and after-celebration noise which went on until about midnight. It was ok, though, because I was watching the Olympics. I saw some of the mens’ gymnastics that I think Cheryl saw live yesterday.
I dawdled in the room, showered, finally left at about 9:30, had breakfast again in the café downstairs. Latte and scrumptious ginger-peach spiral pastry.
My plan today was to go to the zoo, followed by Discovery Park. I only made it to the zoo! It was very easy to get there—I took the #5 bus from the corner near the hotel .(Yesterday I’d gone into one of the Metro stations and purchased an “Orca Card”, a pre-loaded transportation card.) The bus let me off right in front of the zoo entrance. I was happy that the bus was the same design as the ones I’m used to in Boston, so it was easy to board. For zoo admission I used another coupon from the CityPass booklet. I expected crowds, because of the beautiful weather, but it wasn’t bad at all. It’s a beautiful zoo, very peaceful and quiet and I ended up staying until just after 4pm. One of the reasons I wanted to go there is that they have a section for Alaska wildlife. I figured, just in case I’m not lucky enough to see a lot of animals on the cruise I’ll at least see them here. I saw wolves, elk, otters. The bears were hiding. The wolves weren’t up close enough to get good photos with my middling zoom, but they were in a small pack and at one point all their snouts went up in the air and they started howling! I also saw emus, kukaburra, a Visayan warty pig, porcupine, Humboldt penguins, lioness and giraffe—I fed the giraffe, too.
hard to see the wolves here-- white specks on the hill!
I had a snack of sweet potato fries and then at around 3:30 I gave in to hunger and had a veggie burger. It wasn’t bad at all.
I felt like a slacker, but decided to just go back to the room after the zoo. I picked up a to-go salad from the coffee shop downstairs and that will be dinner. Too bad that I didn’t do more in Seattle, but I’ve enjoyed my visit here a lot and feel refreshed by the cooler weather and the slower pace.
Before going to my room I stopped in the lobby to speak with the Disney cruise desk. Tonight I’ll pack, put the DCL luggage tags on my bags and leave them in my room by the door in the morning. I don’t need to be there, so will go out and do something—not sure what yet! I need to be back in the lobby by 11:15 to get the bus to the ship. I’ve been having such a nice time in this city I almost forgot to be excited for the cruise!
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What a nice day at the Zoo. How neat to feed the giraffe. The weather certainly sounds good too. Amazing facts about the wolves. so basically their whole day must be spent in search for food.
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What a nice day you spent! My friend lives in Seattle, and I really want to get out to the Pacific NW. I've got another friend in BC, and I'm hoping to combine my visit and see Seattle (and *cough* Forks ) and then head up to Victoria and Vancouver, and then back down to Seattle. Reading along makes me even more determined to get up there.
Just a reminder that if I don't post daily while on board, all is well-- Internet is expensive and slow on the ship, so I'm not sure what will happen with photo-loading. I've budgeted for a block of Internet time, but don't know how service will be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dlandmom2
Sounds like a great relaxed day! You saw some lovely animals! That's so neat you got to feed a giraffe!
I loved your breakfast! I think I might treat myself to a pastry and latte for breakfast tomorrow morning!
I'm glad you remembered to get excited for the cruise. I know I'm excited for you!
I am excited to board the Wonder today, but a bit reluctant to leave this comfortable room at the Fairmont!
Quote:
Originally Posted by iloverags2
What an awesome final day in Seattle! Love the animal photos. So glad the weather cooperated while you were visiting!
Couldn't have been better weather!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a relaxing day! I'm so glad you're getting such great weather as well.
If the gymnastics you saw featured Great Britain and China, then that was the one I saw - I was seated just by the parallel bars.
By the way I just wanted to welcome Cheri to the boards - great to have you here!
Yest, that's the competition I watched-- wish I'd looked for you!
Cheri (and John, too)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
You've brought back such great memories of Seattle. Wish we'd had more time to explore that city. Hope you are enjoying your cruise.
I wish I'd seen more of the forested areas around the city, like you did. Reason to return.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coffeechef
What a nice day at the Zoo. How neat to feed the giraffe. The weather certainly sounds good too. Amazing facts about the wolves. so basically their whole day must be spent in search for food.
Animals in the wild have hard lives!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
What a nice day you spent! My friend lives in Seattle, and I really want to get out to the Pacific NW. I've got another friend in BC, and I'm hoping to combine my visit and see Seattle (and *cough* Forks ) and then head up to Victoria and Vancouver, and then back down to Seattle. Reading along makes me even more determined to get up there.
It's a beautiful area. I've got to come back as well. My nephew lives in Victoria, which sounds like a beautiful place, and I've always wanted to see Vancouver.
Another nice day, and you got to see some animals too! I think our touring styles are very compatible - enjoy what you see, but don't feel pressured to get everywhere on the first trip.
Hoping the weather holds for the cruise - you're bound to have a good time no matter what. If posting is an issue, we'll be here waiting for your report when you return.
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Too bad that I didn’t do more in Seattle, but I’ve enjoyed my visit here a lot and feel refreshed by the cooler weather and the slower pace.
Ah, cooler weather and slower pace - nice! And that's how I felt about Vancouver, BC when I was there for the World's Fair - not enough time to see it all!
Your breakfast did look yummy! And the zoo looks nice, too. I love the Oregon Zoo but this one looks like it's worth a look, too. I haven't done that much in Seattle and it's been quite some time. Would love to go back, too.
Enjoy the cruise - so excited to hear what it's like on the Wonder. My cruise as on NCL.
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I hope you're doing well today and that you had a great day! I can't believe tomorrow is the cruise! YAY!
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I'm so glad you're getting such great weather as well. 
that was the one I saw - I was seated just by the parallel bars. 
) and then head up to Victoria and Vancouver, and then back down to Seattle. Reading along makes me even more determined to get up there.
Melanie
Have a great time on the cruise! 
Cheri (and John, too)!
Holly: 
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