Two Alices Fall Down The Rabbit Hole and Land On Their Feet in WondORLANDO. Updated 11/6 with more food - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm so jealous. :jealous: We missed you at chat tonight.
I'm on bus to hs with iPhone. Tried to give a shout out to chat but could not open chat. Meet some awesome ppers in mm. We met our goal to be last riders on space mountain and have awesome photo of cns taking a ride thru at closing.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Glad you are finally in the magic. Last rider on SM and closing the park----sounds like dedication to the goal of gathering all of the pixie dust available. Looking forward to more reports.
I'm on bus to hs with iPhone. Tried to give a shout out to chat but could not open chat. Meet some awesome ppers in mm. We met our goal to be last riders on space mountain and have awesome photo of cns taking a ride thru at closing.
I had to quote that last transmission before I edit to show how tapping short phrases on an iphone while seated on a bumpy bus does not work well, especially if the iphone edits without your knowledge! Here is what I wanted to say:
I'm on a bus to HS(Hollywood Studios) with an iphone. I tried give a shout-out to chat during Wishes, but could not open the window. I met some awesome PassPorters in Magic Kingdom.
We met our goal to be the last riders on Space Mountain, and have an awesome photo of CMs (Cast members) taking a ride through the attraction at closing!
I think this is the most magical photo I have ever taken!
And now, a quiz!
Who knows where in WondORLANDO you might find this:
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I’m in a rush to get to the parks, so I just blogged off the top of my head. I hope I am not too incoherent.
I love this Disney Quote!
Exploring and experimenting involves lots of trial and error mixed with the ability to shake off those events that went less than perfectly. This photo is from the display before One Man’s Dream, an attraction in Hollywood Studios that tells the story of Walt’s childhood challenges and the less-than-magical road to success.
I admire how Walt always returned to his optimism, especially during those early years.
When you are always experimenting, though, it is easy to misplace optimism. I have to say I felt a little bit like Alice when I first arrived. My muchness was shaken and I was wishing I’d had one of Alice’s magic cakes or drinks to make me more of some things and less of others. Here’s why:
I had a presentation that was not what I’d hoped. Presenting in a novel set-up, it is almost like being an oil painter who takes a shot at sculpting or a comedian taking a shot at drama. You have to experiment!
I’d never presented in an interactive technology poster group format, but I had my plan…a powerpoint with recorded voice running on a continuous loop at one end of the table while I demonstrated some of the online tools live. The visitors were to rotate around ten stations for a couple hours.
As always with technology and me, there was a problem. The sound was not working! Let’s fast forward.
I usually walk out of any presentation evaluating strengths, weaknesses, and what I’d do differently. I walked out of this one asking myself “what was the license plate number of the truck that dragged me and some innocent bystanders along for a couple hours?”
My presentation ended at 5:00, and we scheduled the limo to Disney for 5:30. The weird energy of regret, what-ifs, and disappointment had not even sunk-in, as Tara and I bolted from the conference center to our hotel.
Brandy, our new army OT friend (see here) was there waiting to join us. I was overjoyed to see her smiling face as she gushed about the helicopter ride she had just enjoyed. This is one lady who lives life with unrestrained energy and enthusiasm!
Our driver stood looking distinguished and polished to take us away to Disney World… we flew under the Magic Kingdom gates… we landed in our beautiful room at Disney’s Contemporary to take in a breathtaking view on the balcony. Then we were off to Epcot. I’d hardly solidified any negative reactions to the presentation because there were so many distractions!
Maybe that was part of Walt’s secret. Somehow he could turn his attention in the right direction. In fact, Mickey was the product of turning his attention away from the legal theft of Oswald and opening his mind to a new creation.
Life is full of moments when you feel you need to take a bite of a magic cake or take a sip of the magic drink to force yourself to be bigger or smaller. Today I am going to reflect on how, maybe, it isn’t ME that needs to be bigger or smaller, but the strategies, beliefs and approaches I have with my goals and dreams. A project that seems like a failure is only a failure until I turn it into a springboard into something better.
Today, as my trip is past mid-point and thoughts of going home are breaking through, I’ll just imagine that Mickey is sitting in The Matrix of WondORLANDO reminding me that there is, in fact, no spoon to bend when it comes to dreams and goals.
This trip report is going to be very non-linear as far as time, since I'm writing most of it when I get home, but that is the way things go when you have fallen down the rabbit hole!