A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 40 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm glad you finally got to see your whales. Your pictures came out great considering the conditions. the pictures of the glacier are wonderful and the scenery around there is so pretty.
Liz
So glad you were finally able to see some whales! Getting a picture of one is HARD, though, isn't it?!?! I was shocked to find I did get one breaching (even if it isn't the best quality shot). Like you, I have lots of "whale back" in my pictures.
Oh my goodness, I think that was my biggest photographic challenge ever. It's bad enough trying to focus in on a patch of water, and hope the whale might turn up there, never mind the fact you're bobbing up and down at the time!
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I almost think I'd just skip even trying to take pictures if we ever get back to Alaska and do another whale watch. I'll just live in the moment as then I won't be distracting myself in wondering if I got a good picture or not.
That's true, but whenever I say that (mainly when we see IllumiNations, it never works out, so I suspect I'd be there still trying to snag a good shot...
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Awww yeah!!! You finally got to see the whales! Not only that - also scored some excellent photos! Awesome! I know how hard it is to get those photos - we did a dolphin sighting thing in Mexico. Camera is never in the right area when they show up, and then it's zoomed so far in that you have to be pretty exact, and then it has to focus.... not easy. But you did it!!!
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Tanya
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Yea!! Whales! I'm so glad you and Mark had a great excursion! Taking pictures of them is sooooo difficult. On our last trip we had phenomenal views, but I didn't get much in the way of pictures although I was snapping away the whole time. It's just so challenging to focus on the shot and see in the LCD screen what you've got. The eagle was nicely posing just waiting for your arrival.
Yes, there is a God! You finally did it Cheryl! Some nice photos of the whales and their fins as they are in motion and not exactly posing for photos! You have some nice photos of this and captured them well! Well worth the price on this excursion I'm sure for you!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I was so relieved after my bad luck so far on this cruise...
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Not only that - also scored some excellent photos! Awesome! I know how hard it is to get those photos - we did a dolphin sighting thing in Mexico. Camera is never in the right area when they show up, and then it's zoomed so far in that you have to be pretty exact, and then it has to focus.... not easy. But you did it!!!
Yep, that's pretty much how it is. I'm pleased with them, but of course I wish I could've got closer more zoomed in shots, but it just wasn't to be....
Yea!! Whales! I'm so glad you and Mark had a great excursion! Taking pictures of them is sooooo difficult. On our last trip we had phenomenal views, but I didn't get much in the way of pictures although I was snapping away the whole time. It's just so challenging to focus on the shot and see in the LCD screen what you've got. The eagle was nicely posing just waiting for your arrival.
Oh gosh, I cannot tell you how many photos I took that didn't make it past the first cut that evening. Seriously, I'd maybe have one shot, then the next 15 would be deleted, then there'd be one decent one, then I'd delete the next 10 and so it went on!
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And how great you finally were able to see some whales! 
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Pixie Dust
It's bad enough trying to focus in on a patch of water, and hope the whale might turn up there, never mind the fact you're bobbing up and down at the time! 
You finally got to see the whales! Not only that - also scored some excellent photos! 
Awesome! I know how hard it is to get those photos - we did a dolphin sighting thing in Mexico. Camera is never in the right area when they show up, and then it's zoomed so far in that you have to be pretty exact, and then it has to focus.... not easy. But you did it!!! 
You finally did it Cheryl! 
You have some nice photos of this and captured them well! 
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