Four Days Off . . . TR Completed 12/2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am so sorry about your student. I watched part of that game..it was hard hittinf on the field....very senseless. Anyway...again I am very sorry about Earl.
It was so sad when I saw your FB post about your former student this morning...so sensless
Loving your TR. I enjoyed your FB updates & had wondered how I missed another one of your trips, but since it was spur of the moment it makes much more sense now.
I'm feeling a bit better today. I'm still waiting to see when the funeral is going to be, if I can swing it I've decided I should go.
After Voyage of the Little Mermaid, I decided to have a walk through One Man's Dream, as some new things have been added recently, including the original Mr. Lincoln, which was really neat to see.
It was getting close to my ADR time so I headed out to the Streets of America, which during the day with all the Osbourne Lights stuff up are really unimpressive. I made my way to Mama Melrose and was was seated immediately. I ordered a margarita, which was just okay. I hate sour mix. I like real lime juice. It took me forever to decide what to order. I was considering pasta, and then I saw the size of the entrees. I passed. Instead I ordered the antipasta plate for two, which promised italian meats and cheeses and marinated veggies.
I held on to the menu incase I decided to order something else afterward. The antipasta arrived and turned out to be salami and porsciutto, a blue cheese of some sort and parmesan cheeses with olives, marinated mushrooms and red peppers. I asked for more bread and made a lovely meal. I was still a little bit hungry so I ordered a cup of minestrone and was informed they only served bowls, so I said what the heck. The minestrone was pretty good too! I really enjoyed this meal, despite being a VERY untraditional Thanksgiving dinner!
After lunch I decided I was finished at the park and headed out to the buses. My bus arrived really quickly, but I didn't get off at the Contemporary as I had a little bit more time. I took the bus to the second stop--the Poly and got off to look for the jacket to match the track pants I had purchased the day before at the Contemporary. The girl there told me that a jacket existed, but they had sold out of them. No luck at the Poly gift shop either, where they had neither the pants or the jacket. I took the monorail to the Grand Floridian and found one in a 1X size! Perfect! I also picked up the Maleficent T shirt I had been thinking about buying on the last trip. I am positive that the shirt was marked $34 in October. Well this one didn't have a tag and after the castmember spent 15 minutes looking for the sku number she announced that the shirt was $67. Ummm $67 for a T shirt? I don't think so. I asked her to put it back for me. I buy most of my Disney T shirts at Walmart for $7. The rest of my T shirts come from Woot® : One Day, One Deal™ for $10. (I pretty much wear T shirts and jeans exclusively when I'm not at work.)
I took the monorail back to the Contemporary, where I had a bit of a problem to take care of, I had purchased a Disney Villans hoodie at Mousegears the day before but I got the castmember all flustered when I asked for my 10% Disney Visa discount. She forgot to take the sensor tag off. However I didn't set off an alarm when I left the store, so I only discovered it when I was packing later that night.
I went to the bell services desk and asked for my bags back. The front desk person told me no problem and handed my ticket to the bellman standing there, who was not doing anything at all. He handed it back to me and told me I'd have to go outside to valet to get my bags back. Umm? What exactly are you doing that you can't go get my bag? I was mildly frustrated because I work at a 4 diamond hotel and even if the valet needs to get the bag I would have taken the ticket out to valet, gotten the bag and returned it to the customer. I don't like being told no by someone in the service industry. Its okay though, the very lovely valet made $5 for going to get my bag and the lazy bellman got my disdain and frowny face.
I went upstairs to the gift shop and thank goodness I kept the receipt! They had no problem removing the offending inktag. I had a little bit more time so I went and got a diet coke at the Contempo Cafe and just sat there for a few minutes. The CMs stuck working the holiday were in great spirits and just wonderful there! I gave out some more signature Heather High Fives!
Up next--the sweetest family and a funny trip home! And a wrap up!
I'm so sorry to hear about your former student. It truly is senseless.
I also agree with you, I have a 20 minute wait policy, also. I've been known to attempt a 30 minute wait (for Dumbo, most recently) but I won't wait in a line that's more than that. I just can't do it.
I'm really enjoying this TR - thanks for sharing with us! I am looking forward to the rest!
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It sounds like a perfectly wonderful trip (with a few minor bumps).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
I asked my boss about the month of December . . . hoping that perhaps it would be slow the week that Princess Sharon is staying at Ft Wilderness. No such luck--sorry Sha! However, he does expect it to be dead the week before Christmas. What did I do . . . checked the request off folder to see if anyone had requested off the 20th-23rd. Had they? Nope--the only request was from one of the day shift R/S people--and that's not a shift I would remotely consider covering--it starts at 5am. So . . . I booked a flight on Southwest . . . leaving Monday Dec 20th and returning on Christmas Eve in time to be at work for the dinner shift. I also booked a room at the Celebration Hotel. I've not stayed off property since I was 5, but the Celebration Hotel (The Bohemian) is now a Marriott property and we get special perks at holiday time--1/2 off of the employee rate is a pretty good deal. At the Bohemian Celebration its $34.50 a night--for a sweet hotel! Check it out @ Orlando Hotels: Bohemian Hotel Celebration Orlando Walt Disney World Kissimmee Florida FL area hotels resorts boutique rooms luxury suites family vacations romantic getaways packages weddings meetings conferences centers planning near theme parks Int I just need to rent a car, but when you consider that a room at a value for those nights is $485 (Compared to my $210), there are no rooms at the Contemporary and the Poly is over $1500. Sounds like fun huh? Anyone want to come along?
Sorry I won't get to see you but glad to hear you're working on getting another dose of magic. So sorry about your former student.
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Sounds like a great last couple of hours! 
but glad to hear you're working on getting another dose of magic. So sorry about your former student. 
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