The Joys of Pin Trading and Water Slides…Our Seven Days at Old Key West! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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 have to say that we had some great bus drivers over the years @ WDW. Even though we didn't have the best luck with the bus times, the drivers were AWESOME!
We were in building 25 (villa 2514), so it really was close to the Hospitality Center, main pool, boat dock, etc… It was less than a five minute walk to the pool, which probably one of the reasons we went so much! One of the other things that I loved about OKW was that they had plenty of life jackets that we could use for free for DS5 (you just have to give them the child’s card who is using the jacket, and then return it by 10 PM.) Because he is still a beginner in swimming (even after months of swim lessons), I felt more comfortable with his using a life jacket, especially going down the slide. (Which was his absolute favorite thing to do!)
Another thing that we loved about OKW was the Community Hall, which the munchkin loved. They had some free activities for the kids, and we did rent a couple of movies. (Free if you are DVC). It was just really laid back and relaxing. Cypress also LOVED the pool games and the music (which could get a little loud at times). We really felt that the amenities of the resort were pretty nice. (Our older DS has already asked to go back in two years for his graduation.) The munchkin also really loved the playground and the main pool’s Jacuzzi, which surprised me, but he would only stick his toes in it! J
He also loved the movies they had at night, although he could never make it through as he would fall asleep before it was ended. I can’t say enough good things about the CM at OKW. I appreciated how conscientious the lifeguards were (especially with older kids playing around in the pool or on the water slide), and they were really on top of everything. Like I stated earlier, the only negative thing I can say about OKW was the food, but considering this is a DVC resort and that probably many people who stay here don’t use the DDP, that is understandable.
The villa itself was great! In fact, my older DS loved to spend a few hours alone watching TV/playing video games, for as he stated, it was his “chill” time. The master bedroom was great, and the whirlpool was very relaxing. The patio was also really cool, as we had a nice view of the golf course/water, and it was just generally really relaxed and quiet. Perfect for those of us who need that quiet alone time! J We also used the washer/dryer DAILY. My DH is fairly neurotic about the laundry and likes it done HIS way (hey, I’m not complaining!), so having a separate laundry room was nice.
Lastly, I can’t say enough great things about Mousekeeping. In addition to the daily cleaning and fresh towels, they gave us shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel daily, as well as laundry detergent, AND they did the dishes! J What more could you ask for? (We did get two towel animals during our stay, which was just a bonus! )
Oh! I forgot to mention one last thing...the other guests/DVC members! I have met lots of nice people over the years at WDW resorts, but honestly, the DVC members I met at OKW were especially helpful and really nice! It was like meeting old friends! And that was really awesome!
(Too bad DH won't even think about DVC.... )
This is a slight digression of my trip report, but I did want to mention how much I really enjoyed staying at OKW!
We too loved OKW when we stayed there back in 2007, and I think we were in the exact same building as you as we were right across from the Hospitality House. The quiet of this resort is refreshing.
I love OKW! And I love it for all the same reasons you do--its so relaxing and the CMs are so friendly! I just cannot convince Brandon that he wants to stay there--he much prefers AKV!
So we went swimming, and I was surprised at how few people were there, but it was still loads of fun. The munchkin had Tim take him down the slide about 5 times before he wanted to swim for a bit. It was hysterical watching my DH go down that slide! The munchkin had forgotten his fear of the slide at POR last year, and was all about the pool at OKW this year, which was really so much fun to watch him!
After the swim, we got dressed and headed over to WCC. This was a little scary for DS16 as last year, it was after our dinner here that he had an anaphylactic reaction which ended up sending him to the ER in an ambulance…not the kind of ride we enjoyed in the least! But all was well this year, and we had a GREAT dinner (the skillet is our favorite!), and our server was loads of fun, and it was just a wonderful, relaxing evening. I did note my peanut allergy on the reservation, and the chef came out and talked to me, and he took my order specifically, which was nice, and as I thought everything on the skillet was OK, but it was the dessert that I had to be careful. But other than that, there were no issues. The boys (all three of them J) ordered the milkshakes for their drinks, and I had the smoothie, which was great. DH and I had the skillet, DS16 had the pasta, and the munchkin had a cheeseburger and fries. We were too full for desserts, so we ordered these to go, (we were on the DDP), and they made a great snack for later on.
It was on the way home that DS16 gave us a surprise. He offered to babysit the munchkin so that DH and I could go to EPCOT for the evening. I was shocked but quickly agreed, and both boys were happy to hang out in the room watching movies and playing video games. Now, this has NEVER happened to me…a date with my husband at Disney??? Boy, was I excited! J
So, DH and I headed for the bus, and I have to tell you, I felt like a kid myself! J DH and I had FP for Soarin’ that we had kept from earlier, which I was excited to use. As soon as we got to EPCOT, we took our obligatory picture, just the two of us! J We then headed for Spaceship Earth, which I love! I have to say that it was a weird feeling to have DH all to myself at Disney, and it was just so cool! After riding Spaceship Earth, we headed to the Land, and decided to ride the Living with the Land ride while we waited for our Soarin’ FP’s. I do have to say that I did use the GAC card as I was really having a lot of problems walking, which was the only problem. It was really helpful, and I was really appreciative of it! FINALLY, it was time for our FP’s (and they were really being sticklers about the time on the FP down to the minute), so off we went. We were able to get on fairly quickly, and DH and I spent the next few minutes soaring in the skies! J By this time, it was getting really close to Illuminations, but we wanted to get back to the kids, so we headed to the bus stop. I was limping pretty noticeably, so DH told me that I was getting a wheelchair tomorrow regardless. Fortunately, the bus was pulling up as we got to the stop, and we were on our way back to OKW. When we got back to the villa, DS16 had already put the munchkin to bed! It was a great end to a great day!
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Even though we didn't have the best luck with the bus times, the drivers were AWESOME! 
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That is a great day!! Did the sky fall when DS16 offered to babysit? 
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(Miss Molly)
How sweet that you two got an evening alone in Epcot! 
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