To Alaska and Beyond! Updated 4/28 x 3 and it's COMPLETE!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I've never done a cruise but it sounds good so far. What a beautiful site for that wedding part. I hope Mr Gumpy doesn't sit at your table at dinner. He didn't sound fun to travel with.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Lori- there's going to be an interesting entry of Mr. Grumpy towards the end of this trip report- you'll have to stay tuned.
After exploring some more, we decided we were all probably hungry enough for a bite to eat and headed to the Windjammer Cafe. It was a very nice spacious buffet area- both with the food and in the seating areas. I found it to be much more spacious and better laid out than Beach Blanket on DCL.
Greeting us right in the entrance was a gorgeous fruit sculpture!
Here's a pic of the main seating area- and I found the decor to be very pleasant.
Upon entering, we were given hand sanitizer- so thumbs up for hygiene. There was a table with the soda packages/cups being offered- so we got one for Aaron and Matthew. They each got the mug and a sticker placed on their SeaPass.
The buffets were in a series of stations and loaded with food. I also noticed how diverse the offerings were. In addition to the traditional offerings, there was a sushi bar, Thai food, Mexican food and curries. One thing I also liked is the kid friendly stuff was located in the buffet as well- pizza, burgers, chicken- no having to go to another place to get it.
The salads bar was quite extensive and I tried at least 4 different kinds of cold salads and all of them were fabulous. There was a Greek Salad with feta, peppers and tomatoes that reappeared several times through the week and I had a good helping each time.
After lunch, we headed out to do more exploring. We headed out by Windjammer and stumbled upon ping pong tables.
I took a little video of Matt and Kevan trying the tables out: (forgive me in the background telling them to serve it already- they took forever to get going!)
We headed out to check out the pool areas and one piece of artwork, if you would call it that- took us all by surprise. There are no words- and we were absolutely speechless.
We headed back inside and decided to go back down to Deck 4- Kevan spotted the bar there and wanted to see if he could find himself some sort of Alaskan brew.
While he worked on the beer, the boys and I decided it was time for a brochure picture. We'll call this.. "Our Explorations desk will help you find a perfect adventure in our ports of call..."
Here's the Guest Relations Desk and Explorations Desk..
And now it's time for a video presentation of the Centrum area, my DH having a beer and Matthew trying to pull off another brochure picture.
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Great start Mo!!! The ship looks MASSIVE and beautiful (that 7 deck atrium is just jaw dropping) - and since Chris and I have decided on an AK cruise (and a week of land based touring) in 2011 - I will be rapt with attention to your TR!
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What a beautiful site for that wedding part. I hope Mr Gumpy doesn't sit at your table at dinner. He didn't sound fun to travel with.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Can't wait to hear all about your room.
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