A Spring Adventure: Wilderness, Flowers, and the Force (with Cam and Luke) PTR Updated 5/22 - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 went away for the weekend and now have two updates for comment! Love the intros and seeing the photos of the cast. Stefanie's princess bathroom is adorable and just right for a pixie/princess. I'm looking forward to seeing the new theme in place. I agree with you about "textured" tile. I have it in my bathroom and it never feels quite clean to me.
The new tile is easier to vacuum and mop, and as Luke says it feels softer on our feet. So I guess not all tile is created equal.
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Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Love the character introduction. With each of your TR's, I feel we know you a bit better.
Love that you've been able to start enjoying retirement at such a young age. I'm afraid it looks like I'll be at it until 65. I'll live vicariously through you until then!
I am very thankful for an excellent teacher's retirement program in my state. I actually taught 5 years longer than required for retirement.
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Originally Posted by Russi01
The princess bathroom is adorable. Can't wait to see the new changes.
Love Stefani's princess bathroom! But I can't wait to see the changes you have planned.
It is definitely a transformation.
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Originally Posted by shazza
Following along to see how the bathroom project comes along. The Princess Bathroom is so sweet.
The bathroom was originally very much like Stefanie herself, but we think she'd like the new look.
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Originally Posted by mommapants
Cute bathroom - fit for a princess. I know the giraffe bathroom will be super cute too and remind you of Stefanie - especially if you get a picture of Stefanie giraffe in there.
The bathroom is more like Luke and me, but it does remind me a bit Stefanie's bathroom when we first moved here. She was into leopards then, so the bathroom had all leopard stuff.
Can't wait to see how the bathroom redo turned out!!
I've been working on the text and the pictures are all on Photobucket now.
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Stefanie's princess bathroom is so cute! I can't wait to see the redo... I need some motivation to redo my own bathrooms!
We've been working on our master bath gradually. I really want to get new tile in there like in Stefanie's, but we've got to save up again for that to happen.
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We had an October trip to Disney World, then Thanksgiving, and followed by Christmas. So I forgot about the bathroom redo temporarily. When Luke announced in January that he was ready to begin a project, he suggested the bathroom redo, if I was ready. I was, and so the Stefanie’s Safari Bathroom Redo began. As the name of the redo suggests, we were going with the giraffe, and well, an Animal Kingdom Lodge kind-of-thing.
Our first purchase was the tile as everything would need to coordinate with that. We knew we wanted 18 inch tiles in a shade of medium tan. We returned to the same place that had done our hardwoods and carpets a year and a half ago. Mark, who had dealt with us before and if formerly from Orlando so he loves to chat about the city and Disney, guide us to numerous samples that were on display in the store. Luke and I immediately chose the same tile, and then along with Mark’s help because Luke is colorblind, I chose the grout, a Mocha tan. With the tile selected, we had about a week to figure out everything else.
Using a tile sample that Mark loaned us, we selected a paint in the Behr Ultra Premium line, Coco Rum. Luke ordered the giraffe shower curtains and towels from Dillard’s that had started this whole redo. I also requested a Mohawk memory foam bath rug in Bison to match. We also checked out lots of bronze fixtures at both Lowe’s and Home Depot: sink faucet, towel rack, cabinet knobs, door stop, wastebasket, toilet brush, and a shower rod and hooks. These purchases were safely stowed in my scrapbook room right across from the bathroom awaiting installation. Additionally, we knew we wanted a new toilet for this bathroom. Over a year ago our master toilet quit working properly, so we purchased an American Standard Champion 4 Max (tall and elongated) as a replacement. Who knew you could fall in love with a toilet? So we were going to upgrade to this toilet in the safari bathroom.
Laying the tile is a two-day process. The first day the old tile is torn out, new adhesive/thin set is troweled out and the new tile is laid down, but not grouted yet. We were cautioned to stay off the floor.
The installation guys returned the next day and grouted the floors. Later in the afternoon when we’d been told we could get on the floor, Luke returned to paint the baseboards, put in the new bronze faucet, and removed the old light fixture.
The next day he began the painting of the wall where pink met mocha. Two coats later the bathroom was a warm, inviting Mocha shade of brown.
Coat 2
The final day was the finishing touches all in bronze: light fixture, grill for heating vent, toilet, cabinet knobs, door stop, shower curtain rod, hooks, and curtain. I got to do a wee bit of decorating with the giraffe towels, and two pictures in bronze frames that used to sit on my desk at school.
The shower curtain that began this whole adventure.
It's impossible to see but Stefanie Mickey shaped soaps are now in this little jar.
Luke may be the most photographed handyman who does not have his own DIY show.
Isn't this the coolest lamp? We realized during the project that the bathroom is very dark and needed a bit of light. Luke found this very AKL like lamp on Home Depot's website and we picked it up at our local store.
The Stefanie Safari Bathroom Redo is 95% done. We still need a faucet kit for the shower, so that a friend can help Luke install that. We also have a giraffe print given to us by a friend and a Kidani Village print given to us by AKL that need to be hung, but I know I need a little more for the walls so I’m not hanging anything until I have it all ready.
Not a part of our trip planning, but still quite a bit of Disney along the way!
It looks wonderful! I'm seriously jealous. The wall color you chose is so warm and the new tile is beautiful. I especially like all the matching bronze touches. The standing picture frames are just perfect. Luke did an amazing job getting all this done.
Aww...thanks for thinking of me! We are hoping to return to DW in October for DH's conference he usually attends, however, he recently lost his job & is currently consulting, so we don't know what will happen.
Love the bathroom redo! Luke did a great job! Feel free to send him over here...I'm sure I have a few projects I can give him to do!
__________________
First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
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Hopefully, the changes will be up later today. 
The wall color you chose is so warm and the new tile is beautiful. I especially like all the matching bronze touches. The standing picture frames are just perfect. Luke did an amazing job getting all this done.
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