A Passporter Pocket Trip Review - Dec 2011 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Reading today's update makes me think I'm ready to book the Wishes Dessert Party again. I love the relaxing view of the fireworks, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
The Wishes Dessert Party sounds great - one day, we are going to have to do that.
I was not that excited about the whole thing when they started it. But when coming up with our schedule, I knew I wanted to be able to watch Wishes without squishing at least one night and most of the Wishes nights looked like they would be crowded. So I decided, what the heck, let's do it at least once.
It was way better than I thought it would be. The desserts were very good AND they even had an ingredient folder that you could look over if you had allergies like I do. (Kiwi and Passionfruit). And it was few enough people that the viewing was just spectacular.
Wake up: Another sleep til we want day.
9:00 Early Morning: Catch bus to Downtown Disney
10ish: Breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Morning: Shopping/wandering around DTD
Noon: Went to the Muppet Movie at AMC
Afternoon: Took bus back to resort for a break in the room. Short nap for me while DH read
5:30 back to DTD for dinner
7:30 Dinner at Ragland Road
Memories of our Ninth Day
The weather today was sunhy and warm (Yay, the cool front has moved on!)
The best thing today was that it was a relaxing, downtime day.
The worst thing today was that it was just a "meh" day. Nothing really exciting.
The funniest thing today was The Muppet Movie. That was pretty much as funny as it got today.
Today we tried the AMC theater for a movie and the result was a good choice for relaxing, non-park day. A very nice theater.
The most magical moment today was realizing that my feet didn't hurt.
**See, no funny or weird stories. That's the very definition of a meh day, isn't it?
Wake up: Whenever. Still in lack of schedule mode.
9ish: Animal Kingdom
Morning: Touring AK
11:30 Lunch: Yak and Yeti
Afternoon: Roaming around AK
Back to room by 3 to pack.
7:30 Dinner: California Grill
Memories of our Tenth Day
The weather today was warm and sunny. In the 70's.
The best thing today was slow walking and relaxing in Animal Kingdom. We spent almost the whole time in Africa doing the Safari and Pangani with a stop in Asia for the Maharaja jungle trek and at Rafiki's planet watch to see surgery on a screaming hairy Armadillo.
The worst thing today was it was our last day and having to pack all the dirty clothes.
The funniest thing today was the safari guide we had with a radio voice. He sounded just like a guy that does radio.
Today we tried Yak and Yeti and the result was fried green beans are great but the food in general is just OK. Typical Landry's restaurant.
The most magical moment today was the time we spent on Pangani trail watching the gorillas. with a castmember Jon.
**We were perfectly positioned on the bridge to have the whole family with baby on one side and the bachelors on the other. The real magic was Jon, the castmember, who spent an extensive amount of time talking to us about the gorillas. He went very in depth and we got into the breeding program between all the zoos. He's been there a long time and we got to talk about the history of the individual gorillas. We remembered the first two babies that were born and we learned about where they went. It was a great love of his and he really shared it with us.
Wakeup: Screamingly early! 5:30
7:00 Eary Morning: Check-out of Contemporary and Check-in at DME.
10:05 Morning: Leave Orlando.
Noon: Land in Austin.
Afternoon: Drive Home, drop off luggage, go to boarding and pick up the doggy.
Memories of Our Return
The weather today was warm in Florida and cool and grey at home.
The best thing today was getting home early enough in the day to pick up the dog from boarding. Usually we get home too late and have to wait til the next morning.
The worst thing today was having our DME bus leave early without any announcement they were our bus. They left us and a bunch of other guests stranded.
The funniest thing today was listening to the bus dispatcher over the radio on the next bus chewing out the bus driver that stranded us.
Today we tried our first time flying out super early in the morning and the result was that it was definitely better for us than a late fly-out.
The most magical moment today was being rescued by another DME bus and his smirky humor about the other bus driver that stranded us. He used good humor to smooth over any bad feelings anybody had.
** We were scheduled for the 7:55 bus with other families. We were at DME pickup spot outside the Contemporary around 7:30 and saw a bus pull up at 7:35. But the bus driver got off, ran over and signed something and then ran and got back on the bus. He never opened the luggage area, he never announced anything, he didn't even acknowledge the families there. We were all mumbling wondering if that was our bus. Then he pulled out at 7:43. We all decided it wasn't our bus.
7:55 comes and goes and no bus. The CM running the area realized there were a group of people that shouldn't be there. She called dispatch and found out that was the 7:55 bus. So they sent over another DME bus and he made fun of the other bus driver in a good humored way. Maybe not totally professional but it helped us feel better, he left the radio on loud enough for us all to hear as the dispatcher lectured the bus driver that stranded us.
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One thing we did on this trip we've never done before was to have NO CAMERAS! I know, sacrilegious, right? But I think it was one of the things that made this one of our very best trips.
We both saw and noticed things that we have missed on 7 previous trips. We watched every show, parade and firework with our eyes and not a single second through a lens. We carried next to nothing in the parks. We toured quite successfully through any crowd size with the added bonus of just being able to walk, look and enjoy with no thought to photos.
I would even say it added significantly to our enjoyment of the treks in Animal Kingdom. You weren't waiting for the animal to turn or settle a certain way for a photo. You were just enjoying watching the animal, pure and simple.
We did no photopasses either. That meant I wasn't looking for them and they were just someone we were walking by on the way to enjoying something. Even though they are usually lickety-split it still felt right to even forgo that as we spent the whole time just being there.
If you get the chance, try a camera/photo free trip. You will find that it makes for a trip with a very different perspective.
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