Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12 - Page 59 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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Just to let you know that there may not be an update tomorrow. We're actually away in the Isle of Man for Easter, returning Sunday night. You can find the pre-trip report in the Globetrotting trip reports forum. If I get a chance to post an update, I will, but I may not....
Those bungalows look amazing!! Thank goodness the Disney Boat Police were just looking out for you guys! I thought maybe Mark was driving on the wrong side of the lake!!
Driving on the wrong side of the lake!! Tara..... good one!
But that had to still be alarming to see the boat police coming up to you! Crazy how a giant ferry can just sneak up on you like that. There's a huge difference driving on the water vs driving in a car! Even with that though, it's so relaxing! Great way to spend an hour or two.
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Thank goodness the Disney Boat Police were just looking out for you guys! I thought maybe Mark was driving on the wrong side of the lake!!
Tara
So Mark looks like such an old pro behind the wheel - guess he was brushing up for your next Broads trip? He probably needs his own boat soon, Cheryl. Birthday gift perhaps?
The bungalows look so cool - love the pair of swings on the deck! Still not sure what I think of the plunge pool, though. I just don't know that the lake looks like water I want to swim in.... But, too bad it would take years worth of points to stay in one for more than a single night. That probably leaves them out of the question for us.
Those bungalows look amazing!! Thank goodness the Disney Boat Police were just looking out for you guys! I thought maybe Mark was driving on the wrong side of the lake!!
Thank goodness that doesn't matter out on the water...
So Mark looks like such an old pro behind the wheel - guess he was brushing up for your next Broads trip? He probably needs his own boat soon, Cheryl. Birthday gift perhaps?
Hmmm.... maybe not - I don't think my pockets are that deep, even if it is his 50th this year. Anyway, I already have that present taken care of, but I won't say anymore on that subject just in case prying eyes are watching...
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The bungalows look so cool - love the pair of swings on the deck! Still not sure what I think of the plunge pool, though. I just don't know that the lake looks like water I want to swim in.... But, too bad it would take years worth of points to stay in one for more than a single night. That probably leaves them out of the question for us.
The number of points needed is just crazy, isn't it?
Wait a minute.... the plunge pools are filled with LAKE water? Eeewwww! If you're not allowed in the water at the beachfront, how could they do that? I hope this is not true... from the photos it looks like the plunge pool doesn't extend down that far.
Wait a minute.... the plunge pools are filled with LAKE water? Eeewwww! If you're not allowed in the water at the beachfront, how could they do that? I hope this is not true... from the photos it looks like the plunge pool doesn't extend down that far.
I must admit I missed that and I wasn't aware of that. I'd assumed they would be fresh water, although I have to be honest, I can't help but wonder whether they will be fully drained in between each stay - I assume so, but that's a heck of a lot of work for housekeeping.
Wait a minute.... the plunge pools are filled with LAKE water? Eeewwww!
I would hope not because supposedly you can't go in Seven Seas Lagoon or Bay Lake because of bacteria levels or something. I personally think it's because of the gators but what do I know. One year we went to Disney and could swim in Bay Lake at FW. The next time we went back, there were gator traps (very visible to guests) all along the canals in FW (which are fed by Bay Lake AFAIK) and swimming was no longer allowed from the beach. Maybe I put two and two together and came up with 5. Either way, I'll stick to the pools. I may not know everything that's in the water but at least I can see what's on the bottom.
I would hope not because supposedly you can't go in Seven Seas Lagoon or Bay Lake because of bacteria levels or something. I personally think it's because of the gators but what do I know. One year we went to Disney and could swim in Bay Lake at FW. The next time we went back, there were gator traps (very visible to guests) all along the canals in FW (which are fed by Bay Lake AFAIK) and swimming was no longer allowed from the beach. Maybe I put two and two together and came up with 5. Either way, I'll stick to the pools. I may not know everything that's in the water but at least I can see what's on the bottom.
I thought exactly the same thing, Darlene-- that the lagoon and Bay lake are not safe for swimming. I was surprised when Colleen mentioned the lake water being used!
Great pictures of the bungalows from the boats! Somewhere I read something about snakes in the plunge pools, and I would NEVER be able to get that thought out of my mind!
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