The way We do a Disney Re-Do ~~ Beach club Aug 13-22 - FINISHED!!! 1/20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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 have no sense of direction, but I have been studying the maps for months.
DH wanted to hop on the boat to take us to DHS. I filled him in on my “inside information” (gleaned from this board) and told him that we should only take the boat if we can get on it right away. Since the boat to DHS takes longer than the walk anyway, having to wait for a boat is unnecessary time. He relented since the boat was nowhere in sight. It looked like it was about to downpour and we were in a hurry.
I had done so much research and map studying that I was sure I knew the way. I was also expecting to see signs pointing us in the right direction…
We did not see any signs...
At one point, I wanted to veer off the boardwalk to the right; DH thought we should keep going straight until we see signs. A person in a WDW uniform was just about to pass so I asked him if he could direct us to Hollywood studios. His English was not good and he did not seem sure of his answer. He first pointed in the direction of what we knew to be Epcot. When I said that, the CM agreed and pointed off to the left of where we were. Hmmm. DH wanted to follow his advice... so we did. We did not seem to be going in the right direction. It was starting to sprinkle. BUT! We were glad to be wet--it cooled us off and disguised the sweat!
A few minutes later, I asked some guests who seemed to be on a mission to return to a resort. They advised us against walking to DHS as it was about to pour. They said we should catch the boat. We argued that we were already halfway around the boardwalk and did not want to waste more time by backtracking. They shrugged their shoulders and pointed us in the same direction as the CM we spoke with minutes earlier. Hmmm...
We kept walking along the boardwalk. I soon recognized that we were...
back where we started…DH wanted to try this path off to the right. I said I was pretty sure that would get us to Epcot and we should just get on that boat. We tried the path. It was now pouring rain.
Picture this…2 soaking wet grownups, practically running in the rain. DH was pushing the double stroller with the girls, and we were expecting our DS to keep up (which he did--looking miserable until he saw me looking at him--at which time a huge fake grin crossed his face!).
Most of you probably know where we ended up...the gate to Epcot.
And another friendship boat dock. We gave up and waited in line. It was a long line as many people were escaping the rain. The boat came about 10 minutes later. It was a LONG.....….SLOW….......ride to D HS with a few stops along the way. We were on the boat about 30 minutes. It was a good time for our youngest to take a nap. When you add in the 10 minutes spent waiting for the boat and the 20 minutes wandering aimlessly in the rain, our commute to DHS was about an hour…but we were still smiling and determined. It was about 4:00. The park closed at 7pm, but we also have dinner ADRs at Cape May at 7:15. We needed to be heading out of DHS just after 6pm, with TSMM our only goal.
I too laughed when you said DS put his fake grin on! Bless his heart. lol...The picture you painted of your family running through the rain made me think of the very first time we went to Disney and the rain POURED down on us at AK (just after my dh and dd got back from changing their clothes from getting soaked on Kali River Rapids).
I'm SOOOO hoping that you all make it in time for TSMM! Can't wait to see.
Great updates, I hope you made it to TSMM. Love the check in. We had the same experience when we checked in at Pop after on line check in during our July trip. My hubby jumped off the bus and they said are you the Piehl family? He was floored!
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Sorry you had such a difficult time getting to the Studio's! I'm very directionally challenged and have gotten lost/mixed up plenty of times..... Glad yall were still in good spirits when you arrived, I think I may have gotten a little on the cranky side after all that....
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I wouldn't know how to do it either...and I've watched people walk as I've taken the boat. They should put out signs so people would have an easier time. (Or how about arrows on the walkway --> to DHS).
I wouldn't know how to do it either...and I've watched people walk as I've taken the boat. They should put out signs so people would have an easier time. (Or how about arrows on the walkway --> to DHS).
I saw some directional signs to Epcot, Epcot resorts, and the boardwalk--Silly me to assume I could find them to guide me to DHS! (I actually think there were some closer to DHS, but never noticed them until we were walking HOME from DHS one day. But by then--we had it!)
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(gleaned from this board) and told him that we should only take the boat if we can get on it right away. Since the boat to DHS takes longer than the walk anyway, having to wait for a boat is unnecessary time. He relented since the boat was nowhere in sight. It looked like it was about to downpour and we were in a hurry. 
His English was not good and he did not seem sure of his answer. He first pointed in the direction of what we knew to be Epcot. When I said that, the CM agreed and pointed off to the left of where we were. Hmmm. DH wanted to follow his advice... so we did. We did not seem to be going in the right direction. It was starting to sprinkle. BUT! We were glad to be wet--it cooled us off and disguised the sweat! 
They said we should catch the boat. We argued that we were already halfway around the boardwalk and did not want to waste more time by backtracking. They shrugged their shoulders and pointed us in the same direction as the CM we spoke with minutes earlier. Hmmm...
When you add in the 10 minutes spent waiting for the boat and the 20 minutes wandering aimlessly in the rain, our commute to DHS was about an hour…but we were still smiling and determined. It was about 4:00. The park closed at 7pm, but we also have dinner ADRs at Cape May at 7:15. We needed to be heading out of DHS just after 6pm, with TSMM our only goal.
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Pixie Dust
Hope you were able to ride TSMM! 
Hope you get to ride TSMM & can't wait to read about your dinner at CMC. 
Susan
Cassie
PassPorter Guide Author
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