Snafus, Stupidities and So Many Firsts TR Dec 11- 19th - COMPLETED 1/25 - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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All caught up! Sounds like you had a wonderful day at Epcot, after the rude people went away. Sorry you weren't impressed with Ohana's. The ISAW souvenir is sooo cute! And another wonderful day at MK followed by MVMCP!
Getting caught up again. I'm glad you didn't let the rude people ruin your trip. I guess its inevitable to run into them at some point. We tried GG too and the kids loved it. Glad you scored such meaningful souvenirs . I also love the end of your day posts where you give the weather and what you tried and the result - I love stuff like that!
Sorry about the busses and that breakfast wasn't a hit! Sounds like a great time at MK! Great pictures too! Love the souvenir!
Only problem with the souvenir is I saw at least 5 other pieces I would love to have. Hmmm.... my birthday is coming up. Ken???
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
The iasw souvenir is so adorable! I see why you had to get it!
A little Mexican boy for my little Latino.
Quote:
Originally Posted by floydfamily4
Sorry Ohana's was a bust and the buses were a mess. But so glad you had an awesome day at MK. The castle lighting show is very cute!
The show is sooo cute and I love how the castle slowly lights up one section at a time. It's just really well done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
All caught up! Sounds like you had a wonderful day at Epcot, after the rude people went away. Sorry you weren't impressed with Ohana's. The ISAW souvenir is sooo cute! And another wonderful day at MK followed by MVMCP!
Thanks for reading Kathy! It was fun to finally be able to ride some things I've heard so much about now that both kids are tall enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SOmommy
Getting caught up again. I'm glad you didn't let the rude people ruin your trip. I guess its inevitable to run into them at some point. We tried GG too and the kids loved it. Glad you scored such meaningful souvenirs . I also love the end of your day posts where you give the weather and what you tried and the result - I love stuff like that!
Thanks for reading. I am enjoying your TR as well!
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofyboysmama
All caught up now! Great days at Epcot (I love Epcot!) and MK. Your afro pic of MJ had me crackin' up
Your dress is beautiful and that cake was huge!
Next trip we will definitely explore Epcot more. Sadly the park remains a bit of a mystery to us.
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Yesterday was a long day and a late night so I thought we would probably all sleep in. Um, not so much. Kids were up around 7:30. I don’t know if I mentioned it but this was the first trip we packed those packaged boxes of cereal for the morning. We got milk and fruit from the store near the Pepper Market. I thought it would be nice to save some money and make for more relaxed mornings.
Today was a planned AK day with 2 ADRs – our favorite, Tusker House for lunch and Jiko for dinner. Those of you who may have followed by PTR remember my TA booked WCC but when I saw Jiko open up I took it since I thought it made more sense so we could enjoy the park longer. And yes, all of you agreed!
In spite of the early wake up we got to the park late as was the norm this trip. We had just enough time for some pin trading before lunch.
Lunch was delicious as usual. I love TH's carved meats and sauces, desserts and just all their unusual dishes. Everyone ate way too much.
Afterwards we went on a 2 week safari and saw lots of animals again. I just love this ride. Alex really likes the crocs.
We walked the animal trail and both Abby and Alex got very interested in the naked mole mice. There was a cool exhibit with the mice making separate compartments for things like nursing, eating, their waste, sleeping, etc. and the kids were just fascinated by it. A very nice CM patiently and thoroughly answered all their questions for like 20 minutes. I love it when you can tell how much people love their jobs. Interestingly enough the kids were not into the gorillas (we see them at our home zoo quite a bit)
We took some photos by the tree which I never get tired of seeing.
We had time for one more ride and Abby had her sights set on EE. She talked Ken into it cuz there was no way in heck you could get me on that thing. I was so nervous for her as I saw people speeding down the hill and heard all about riding in the dark from others who were waiting. But, although Ken said she got sufficiently scared on the ride and said she would never ride it again once she got off… yep, you guessed it, she wanted to ride it again.
We had early dinner reservations at Jiko so we ended another pleasant visit to AK.
Jiko was a first for us and was just beautiful. I love the character meals and buffets but once during the trip I do enjoyed sitting through my entire meal and being served. We had the Taste of Africa appetizer with the breads and different dips. I had the Swahili Curry Shrimp and Ken had the oak-grilled filet mignon. Both were very good and I especially had a lot of food. We were still stuffed from lunch but managed to eat a fair amount of our meals and save room for dessert. I think it was the best part of the whole meal. I had the Tanzanian trio of chocolate which was soooo good. I forget what Ken had. Dinner was nice and relaxed and slow. A nice chance to catch our breaths.
We headed back to the resort after dinner and just chilled out and got to bed by 9:30 or so.
Coming up: Wow! I never knew so much fun could be had at DHS!
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. I also love the end of your day posts where you give the weather and what you tried and the result - I love stuff like that!
Sounds like a great time at MK! Great pictures too! Love the souvenir! 
Deb
Kids were up around 7:30. I don’t know if I mentioned it but this was the first trip we packed those packaged boxes of cereal for the morning. We got milk and fruit from the store near the Pepper Market. I thought it would be nice to save some money and make for more relaxed mornings.
I was so nervous for her as I saw people speeding down the hill and heard all about riding in the dark from others who were waiting. But, although Ken said she got sufficiently scared on the ride and said she would never ride it again once she got off… yep, you guessed it, she wanted to ride it again.
pictures of the animals on the safari. I too 
Tusker House for lunch! So 
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