National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! DISNEYLAND SECTION COMPLETED - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sorry you day got off to such a rough start. It seems like whatever can go wrong will go wrong when you're getting ready for a vacation. i can't wait to read what happens next.
Liz
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Finally it was time to hit the Virgin Clubhouse lounge. We’ve been in here once before three years ago, before our flight out to Hong Kong and we had fond memories of it. It had changed a bit, but it was still wonderful.
They even have an outdoor garden area here!
I headed straight to Cowshed to try and get a complimentary massage, but my luck was not in. They were fully booked, with a long waiting list and I never got it.
We found somewhere to sit, then I wandered around, getting photos everywhere. On the way, I found that the small area upstairs was deserted, so I suggested to Mark we head there. He’d only just ordered lunch, so we caught the girl and told her where we were off to. I also took the opportunity to order a Virgin Red Head, apparently one of their signature cocktails. I’d spotted one at the bar and asked what went into it – freshly muddled raspberries, berry liquors, shaken with Bombay Sapphire gin, finished with champagne – and I liked the sound of it, so I thought I’d try one.
We settled down in our new quiet area and Mark headed off to the deli bar to get some snacks.
When he came back, he told me about the selection down there and I just had to go and check it out myself...
And here’s what I got:
Not long afterwards, my drink arrived and very nice it was too! Mark took the opportunity to order Le Fizz with Grey Goose vodka, delicate elderflower cordial, fresh lime juice, topped with Fever Tree soda and he enjoyed his, although I tried a bit and it wasn’t to my tastes at all. :
It wasn’t long before lunch arrived. I went for the steamed fillet of seabass with samphire, red onion and beetroot, while Mark had the Clubhouse burger, a grilled beef burger with marinated beef tomatoes, crispy red onion, gherkin, relish and fries.We both agreed that our meals were superb.
For dessert, I went for a small tub of Bailey’s ice cream, while Mark had fresh fruit salad. All the time, I was working away on the Internet, catching up on my e-mails and the boards, once I’d managed to master the wi-fi system, which took a little while on our laptop, but finally we were there...
I headed off for another wander round to get some more photos...
Then it was off to the restroom, as I thought we’d be boarding before long. I was right. As I headed down there, I could see that they were already summoning the great unwashed in Premium and Economy ( I know that’s usually us ) to gate 17.
The restrooms here are amazing. Each has its own sink in it and some lovely touches, like face cloths and hand wash and handcream. It’s a joy to visit them.
Not long after we’d both freshened up, we headed down to get a seat nearer the exit, as I figured that we’d be called to the gate fairly soon. As we walked down, guess what? we were and off we went. The way they do it, they only call you when they’re actually ready for you to board the plane, so you go through into the gate and straight on. Even better, we had our own door for boarding, so the only people walking through Upper Class were Upper Class passengers, which made a lot of sense.
Bummer you didn't get the massage. But it appears the food and surrounding comforts kind of made up for that. Wow, that is one heck of a lounge! I love the outdoor area too. How nice that you can just board directly through your door, and straight upstairs. No messing around with the "lower" class.
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Tanya
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I doubt I'll ever be lucky enough to enjoy a first class lounge in the airport. I guess I'll have to stick with the great unwashed for the rest of my life. Oh, and the Upper Class Only entrance...sort of reminds me of Titanic.
That is DEFINITELY the way to travel! I'm starting my savings now...because someday when I get to London, I'm going Upper Class all the way!
I hope the turbulence wasn't too awful...that teaser does sound ominous!
You are going to need some serious money! This trip cost us about $700 taxes on the way out and $500 on the way back - that's taxes only. The last time we flew Upper Class, we got an amazing deal, it came in about $1800 per person, the usual rate is more like $4000 each!
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Mark took the opportunity to order Le Fizz with Grey Goose vodka, delicate elderflower cordial, fresh lime juice, topped with Fever Tree soda and he enjoyed his, although I tried a bit and it wasn’t to my tastes at all. 
: 
I know that’s usually us 
) to gate 17. 
,
How nice that you can just board directly through your door, and straight upstairs. No messing around with the "lower" class. 
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