Go your own way - Decade of Dreams - UPDATED 6/24 - COMPLETE!! - Page 83 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed your report. You made me long for Epcot's F&GF (hmmmmm....maybe we'll have to go back next year in early May? Jimmy will still be in nursery school so pulling him out wouldn't be a big deal...hmmm.....now see what you've started!).
Your photos are fantastic too. You really took me with you with them.
Thank you for taking the time to post such a wonderfully detailed (with words and photos) report!
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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.
It's always so nice to see your DH waiting for you at the airport after a long trip apart from each other! How sweet of Mark to plant the tree and flowers for you while you were away! It must be great to know that you'll be together in WDW in December Thanks so much for sharing your TR with us. You're such a wonderful writer.
Cheryl - what a wonderful trip report. I appreciate all the time and effort you took to give us such great information and pictures.
I also like to notice the difference between the British and the American phraseology, "where the car was parking." To an American, its like the car had a mind of its own, and parked itself somewhere!
Sorry that the inflight entertainment was less than entertainment but at least you got some much needed sleep. Happy to hear that you and Mark found each other and that he had the day off so you could spend some much meeded quality time. What a great surprise to see the Cherry Blossoms - what a nice reminder of your anniversary trip to Tokyo.
I knew someone was going to ask for that... Sadly, I never got one of it in bloom - I was convinced I did, but I can't find it now but here's how it was looking a week or so ago:
I’ll start by saying that I went into this trip with a lot of trepidation, because it was only me and the prospect of leaving Mark behind was just unbearable. The first day was exceptionally emotional and, to a certain extent, what Mark kept saying about me being fine once I got there was true, although I never really stopped missing him and wishing that he could be with us all, sharing all the great memories we made. Having said that, I’m very glad I went on my own, as I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this for the world. I really had an absolute blast and it was so great to see so many old friends and to make so many new ones.
I loved all the quests that Jennifer and Dave did and the birthday lunch was a real highlight for me. It was so wonderful to see so many people sharing the great community that we know as PassPorter and I hope that Jennifer and Dave know how much we all love being a part of it. I know it must’ve been absolutely exhausting for the pair of them, as they seemed to be working all the time and all credit should go to them and our sincere thanks for making it such a great success.
Credit and thanks too as well to the Mouse Fan Travel team. I know Sara and Becki were working their socks off whenever we saw them and the Fantasmic! dessert party was excellent. I loved that and was more impressed with Fantasmic! than the last time I saw it. This is definitely the way to see it.
The concierge at the BoardWalk was superb and I loved the lounge there and its view of IllumiNations. What a great, unexpected surprise that was.
The Magic Kingdom view at the Contemporary was well worth the money we paid for it. To watch Wishes from our balcony was so cool and we spent a lot of time out there, just enjoying the view. It’s a beautiful resort with some great facilities and I can’t wait to stay there when Bay Lake Tower opens.
Talking of not being able to wait to stay at resorts, Kidani Village falls into that category. I loved the place and it’s a great addition to the DVC family.
By the way, while we’re talking about accommodation, I must say a word here about rooming with Wendy. It was an absolute pleasure. We’ve known each other for about six years now and talk every day – or almost every day anyway! – by e-mail, but we’d only met each other twice before this trip and not for very long on each occasion. Therefore, there is always the doubt that you might not get on, but not a bit of it. : I loved spending so much time with her and I’m delighted we’ll get to see both her and Ben again in December.
This was a great opportunity for me to try out some things that I knew Mark wasn’t keen on and, in fairness, some stuff I knew I would love. And he can breathe a sigh of relief, when it comes to the Rose and Crown and Cinderella’s Royal Table, as I won’t be hassling him to go back to either in the near future. However, as a result of my dining experiences this time, Hollywood Brown Derby, Nine Dragons, Sanaa and Tusker House are all on the list to take him to in December, as we had great experiences at all of them.
This really was a great trip and it was so wonderful to be able to celebrate such a great milestone with Jennifer and Dave and so many members of the PassPorter community. Now, for the most important question – when’s the next celebration guys?
Having enjoying this one, I can’t wait to see what December has in store. One thing’s for sure, I will be there and this time with Mark and we’re both looking forward to seeing a lot of you there.
Loved your final thoughts Cheryl! Glad that you had quite a few new dining experiences that were so good that you plan to go to again in December! Will look forward to hearing your plans for your upcoming trip
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I'm sorry to see it come to an end, Chez, but it was great being able to hear all about this wonderful trip. You tell a great story and take amazing photos to go along with it. Thanks for sharing.
Great final thoughts Cheryl!! Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us, I always thoroughly enjoy every word and photo, it's almost like I'm there with you!
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.
So sad that this trip report is over Thank you for sharing those final thoughts. I have to admit, I feel the same way about taking trips without my DH. I'm usually fine but I never really stop missing him. It was so good to see you and Wendy at Disney Hope to see you and Mark again in London soon
Can't wait for you to go on another trip so I can read another one of your trip reports
Oh dear, it's done already! I just love reading your TRs and looking at all of your beautiful pictures! Now I guess I'll have to wait for your December one .
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Thanks so much for sharing your TR with us. You're such a wonderful writer.
PassPorter Guide Author
but here's how it was looking a week or so ago: 
: I loved spending so much time with her and I’m delighted we’ll get to see both her and Ben again in December. 
Danny and I at Epcot 8/14/08
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