National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 49 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 cabin is really cute! Although I think on this kind of trip I'd be toting a sleeping bag and a tent--I miss camping, but then I spent 10 summers living in the woods in Upstate New York.
Sorry about the disaster of a meal--although I am glad to hear that things sometimes go badly when I'm NOT with you--I was starting to think it was me!
it's not just you - we can have disasterous meals all on our own!
Tuesday 13 September – part one: is it really worth it to be getting up this early?
It was an early start, with the mobile phone bleeping insistently at us at 6:00am. That was the first shock to the system, the second was the temperature of the room. It was freezing cold! Mark tried and tried to get the heating going, but it wasn’t doing anything. It was like being in one of my old student houses with no central heating and only electric heaters that took a while to get going. Just like those heady days, I got dressed as best I could in bed, so as not to get too cold.
We were quickly off into the car, putting the heating on full belt to try and warm us both up and it did the trick.
Just as we arrived at Bryce Canyon, you could see the first streaks of daylight breaking and we made our way to Bryce Point, nearly missed a couple of deer on the way, who scampered across the road. Unfortunately, it was too dark and quick for me to get any photos of them.
The view in the car park when we arrived
When we arrived at Bryce Point, we weren’t the only idiots up there this early, but in truth, it was a nice number of people, no more than 15 or 20 there, meaning everyone got a good view. I have to say here though that it was absolutely freezing out! OK, so our breath wasn’t showing in the air, so I guess it was just above freezing, but it was probably only in the high 30s. With two pairs of socks on, jeans, a long sleeved top, cardigan and two sweatshirts and gloves, I was just about OK, but Mark was wearing a lot less than that and I know he felt it big time.
Was it worth it? it was – despite the early and very cold start to our day, it was an amazing sight to watch the sun gradually come up in the distance and start to illuminate what lay beneath us. It was wonderful to see how it all caught the light, as the sun moved into the sky. It was quite something.
My photos:
Mark’s photos:
Around 7:20am, we all dispersed naturally and, when I looked back, as we walked back to the car, there was no-one left there any longer.
We headed out and saw some of the deer that had been around earlier:
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Sunrise photos are always painful (to wake for!) but they're always worth it! Beautiful!
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Tanya
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
You guys got some really beautiful photos. I hope you get the heat fixed in the cabin, that is if you're staying another night.
We weren't staying an extra night. After we left Seattle, we had no longer than one night at anywhere we stayed for the rest of the trip.... packing and unpacking became a regular occurrence for us!
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Tuesday 13 September – part two: more sunrise beauty at Sunset Point
We decided to stop at Sunset Point, as we hadn’t seen that yet and yet again, it was a wonderful sight and well worth stopping for.
My photos:
Mark’s photos:
We debated going to Sunrise Point, but the map indicated that there was a bit of a walk from the parking lot and we were both very cold, so we decided against it. Instead, it was off to the Visitor Centre, which opened just as we got there, to get my National Parks passport stamped. You should’ve seen the line of people waiting for information, it was almost out of the door. I was very glad that I didn’t need any information.
On the way out, we saw some more of these guys:
As we left the park, that scene was repeated with maybe about eight vehicles already waiting to get into Bryce Canyon and a string of more vehicles, including quite a few motorbikes, heading that way.
We headed back to the cabins, seeing the landscape alongside the road for the first time in the daylight.
When we got there, there was still no sign of the heating working, so Mark walked down to reception to ask about it, but couldn’t get an answer. I tried calling, but it went to voicemail. A few minutes later, I did get an answer and I was told that, although the mornings are very cold, the days are very hot and they’d deliberately turned off the heating, as people were complaining about the heat during the day. She did offer to come out and turn it on, but as we’d be leaving soon, I told her we’d manage. It was fair enough, it would’ve just been nice to have been told that when we checked in last night.
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it's not just you - we can have disasterous meals all on our own! 
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OK, so our breath wasn’t showing in the air, so I guess it was just above freezing, but it was probably only in the high 30s. With two pairs of socks on, jeans, a long sleeved top, cardigan and two sweatshirts and gloves, I was just about OK, but Mark was wearing a lot less than that and I know he felt it big time. 
Mental note, must do more Kilimanjaro Safaris - need more practice in animal spotting obviously... 
I was very glad that I didn’t need any information. 
Katie's graduation
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