Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - return to WDW! 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I have an ADR for Beaches and Cream for our upcoming trip, but i still think I will go with just a no way jose. LOL I have never tried the real food there yet. We'll see how hungry we are and maybe get some fries too. It's vacation....no need to be healthy...right?
Wednesday 13 November – part four: we just want a room that’s ready!
We were greeted at the lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge by a very enthusiastic Cast Member Daniel, who asked if we had any requests for our room. I told him the most important one was that it was ready and then asked for one not too far from the lobby, and we got one that suited both needs.
I think this is the first time we’ve stayed in a one bedroom villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge, it’s certainly the first time we remember, although maybe our memories are fading a bit. We came to the conclusion later on in the vacation that we have stayed in a one bedroom villa before, but this did seem different somehow… I got some photos of the room…
… and then of what was happening outside…
We called bell services and got the luggage brought up, then we settled down to relax. I noticed that it was feeding time out on savannah, so got some shots of the action out there…
Being jetlagged and exhausted, not to mention aching all over I took the opportunity of us having a one bedroom villa to run the whirlpool bath and sit in there for a while, which helped no end.
We headed out just before 6:00pm bound for the Studios, as I wanted to see the Osborne Lights. Despite the fact that it was pretty much mid November, I really wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit at all, and it didn’t help that so far the Beach Club, and now Animal Kingdom Lodge had absolutely no decorations up at all. Of course, neither had Aulani… well if we go back Christmas 2017, then we’ll be able to see them then… Footnote: well, if we’re not going back to Disney in Christmas 2014, then I want a return trip sooner than 2017, so Christmas 2016 is now the latest plan…
As soon as we got to the Studios, we could see that they did have their Christmas decorations up, with the Christmas tree all lit up at the entrance.
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It must have been so nice to sit in the whirlpool tub for a while after those long flights. I'm amazed you had the energy to get out to studios, but I guess this would be your only chance to see the OL this year.
Just catching up...lunch at beaches and cream sounded great! We love sitting at the counter and watching them make the sundaes, especially the kitchen sink!
Your room at AKV looks lovely! And you can't beat the view!
Even though your order was wrong at B&C, the food always looks good there Glad that they were able to give you a room close to the lobby and right away We just stayed at the AKL DVC for the first time last month and absolutely loved it! How great that the DHS had their Christmas decoration up for you to see!
Glad they had a room ready for you guys and you were able to relax some before heading out. Glad that Christmas decorations were out for you guys when you got to the DHS.
Glad you've made it back to Disney! Boy, that minivan must have felt huge after having the convertible in Hawaii! Glad you got to see Delores at B&C! Great pics from your Villa. Sorry the Christmas decorations are lacking!
Always a nice bonus to have a room ready for you at check in. And with an awesome location too!
Finally some Christmas spirit!!
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It must have been so nice to sit in the whirlpool tub for a while after those long flights. I'm amazed you had the energy to get out to studios, but I guess this would be your only chance to see the OL this year.
You are absolutely spot on there. If we didn't get out, we just wouldn't see the Osborne Lights and I really didn't want to miss them. In hindsight, I'm so glad we did drag ourselves out, as we won't be seeing them for another couple of years now.
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It's vacation....no need to be healthy...right?
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Pixie Dust
We came to the conclusion later on in the vacation that we have stayed in a one bedroom villa before, but this did seem different somehow… I got some photos of the room…
I took the opportunity of us having a one bedroom villa to run the whirlpool bath and sit in there for a while, which helped no end. 
Deb
Great pics from your Villa. Sorry the Christmas decorations are lacking! 
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