Graduation and Good bye: the Radcliffe family - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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After a short nap and a shower, everyone felt refreshed enough to head back to Epcot for our late dinner at the Rose and Crown for IllumiNations. Our ADR was for 8:00, but we arrived at the park about 6-ish, so we split up again. I wandered around taking photos, DH went off to do Soarin again, one DD headed for Test Track and the other one just wandered. I noticed the clouds were starting to pile up, and around 7, they let loose. Fairly heavy rain that sent everyone scurrying for shelter. In two minutes, the streets were empty and the shops were full. One lone duck was left out in the rain, and actually looked lonely, so I took his picture. It rained for about 30 minutes, then started to taper off. We re-grouped and headed over to the Rose & Crown.
When we checked in, we were told that the rain had messed up their reservation system, as about one-third of their tables were now unusable. We were given a pager and went into the pub to wait. The pub is SRO and very noisy, and gets worse when the piano player starts up. There is one group of young men who have had a little too much to drink, that are making most of the noise. After about 30 minutes, our pager finally goes off and we get seated.
Our table is in a really good spot for viewing; right next to the steps leading out to the terrace, and I'm thinking everything is looking good, when our waitress hands us the menu and some bad news. A power flux has messed up the kitchen and the only thing available is Shepherd's Pie or Fish and Chips. I can't have the pie, because it has onions in it, so that leaves me with fish. I have had my mind set on one dish for the last two months, and now I can't have it. Major disappointment, followed by depression so that I don't even enjoy the fish. The dessert menu isn't touched by the power problems, so I order the apple crumble. Last year, I had it and it was delicious. This year they changed it; it is now just a few apple slices with a miniscule scoop of ice cream on top- no cake anymore.
This particular dinner is enough to make me seriously re-think this restaurant for future visits. As often as it rains in Florida, you'd think they would have all the bugs worked out. The wait staff all seemed panicked when the rain hit, and I don't understand why they don't have back-up generators for the kitchen. Our waitress was a bit surly, bordering on rude, and didn't apologize for the kitchen problems. She also didn't take good care of us, never re-filling our drinks,, and forgetting my water. If we had been told at the podium about the limited menu, we probably would have gone elsewhere. The manager did come out and apologize, but said there was nothing he could do.
The fireworks were great, as usual, and on the way out we remembered to look for the fiber optic light show in the ground in front of Innoventions. I managed to get some good photos of them, and then we headed home. A very bad ending to an otherwise good day.
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Sorry about Rose & Crown. I am also surprised that they are not better prepared for the rain , since it rains so much there. Glad you enjoyed the fireworks!
Then started a tradition for our family on this trip - technical difficulties.
WOW, you weren't kidding!! I can't believe how many times you had technical difficulties!! I agree that you should have been told at check in about the limited menu.
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WOW, you weren't kidding!! I can't believe how many times you had technical difficulties!! I agree that you should have been told at check in about the limited menu.
I forgot to mention the RNRC technical difficulties. We were held at the very beginning of the ride, right before you go through the doors for initial acceleration. That lasted about 3 minutes and then we were off. In the picture, the younger couple in front both look like they are about to throw up, while the boy next to me is having the time of his life. I just look excited.
First off, let me apologize for the long delay. I have been suffering from gastroenteritis for the last three weeks. At first, my doctor thought it might be salmonella from tomatoes I ate while at Disney, but tests ruled that out. He put me on antibiotics, and they wiped me out. I am slowly getting back to a normal life. And now, back to the post!
This morning we had breakfast with Stitch and friends at 'Ohana. The food wasn't anything special, but we didn't go for the food. It was great fun with all the characters. My DH wasn't looking when Pluto came to our table, so Pluto started sniffing his way us DH's arm, until DH finally noticed. The parade with the little kids was too cute! After breakfast, we monorailed over to the Magic Kingdom. We went about halfway up Main Street, then stopped for a photopass photographer. After that, we split up. Megan and I headed over to Big Thunder. After riding that once, she wandered off, and I headed over to Splash. Rode that once no problem, but the second time, yep, technical difficulties. We were stopped for nearly five minutes at the spot where Brer Fox has Brer Rabbit by the ears; just before you go up the final incline. I actually managed to get a good picture without using my flash. Then we were off again. After that, I wanted a Dole Whip, so I headed that way. Would you believe technical difficulties here, too?!? The machines weren't working up to speed, and we had to wait several minutes. The wait was worth it, though, those things are great!. Then I wandered around, taking random pictures, until my feet hurt so much I could hardly walk. I had turned in my scooter the previous night, so note to self: rent it for every day, no matter what your departure time!!!
I stopped at the candy kitchen and purchased two coffee mugs - those really big ones - and a cookbook, and had them shipped home. Then I used a bunch of snack credits to get various flavors of fudge. Yummie!! Then back to the resort.
We had packed our bags and checked our luggage through the resort check-in, but had left our carry-ons with luggage services. Upon getting back to the hotel, I wanted to get my book out of mine, so I went down to luggage. They lost our carry-ons. The CM who had checked them in for us, forgot to put them in the computer, so no-one knew where they were. They finally found them after nearly an hour. I'm just glad we had that time to spare. Can you imagine if we were just about to get on the DME bus and this happened??!??
The rest of the family were all here now, so we just hung out in the lobby and waited for our bus. The flight home was smooth and uneventful, although we had a one hour weather delay in Houston. We had to sit in the plane, on the tarmac, about 40 minutes more, but the airlines have learned from the JetBlue fiasco, so water was served, and we were allowed to use our electronic devices. They also let us use the restrooms.
So, we're home now.
Overall, a great trip, even with the disappointment.
I don't think we will be going again any time soon; I have to pay this one off first. We will probably go again in two years, when Megan graduates from high school.
The good-bye part of this trip is still to come. Heather will be joining the Army on August 6th. This was our last family vacation together. I tried to make it special for her; I know I made it special for my husband. He told me the day after we got home, that this was the best vacation he has ever been on; everything went smoothly and he didn't worry about a thing. I know that kids must grow up and leave home, but as her departure date nears, I find myself getting a bit melancholy, with a side helping of depression. You just want them to stay small forever, and then all of a sudden, they're leaving you. I'll miss her, of course, but I am very proud of the choice she has made for her life.
So sorry that you have not been feeling well. Hope you back to 100% soon . Thanks for sharing the TR...GREAT JOB! I am glad to see you all still had a wonderful time being together despite all the roadblocks that were thrown in your path.
__________________
Margaret
I am not a Disney employee. The postings here are my own and do not represent the positions or opinions of the Disney Company
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Wow I can only hope that Disney gets its bugs back out soon. After all these years, you would think that they would have back ups and systems in place just in case.
I am glad that your family had a wonderful time over all. I am kind of jealous of the time you and your DH had as me and my DH will never be alone because our kids are too young and DH doesn't want to pay that extra cost for babysitting fees. So no GROWN UP time for us.
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Margaret
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Crystal
Very frustrating 
I agree that you should have been told at check in about the limited menu. 
to hear about the disappointing meal at Rose & Crown! 
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for sharing your TR with us!! I have enjoyed reading it!
Thanks so much for sharing it with us 
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