The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 2/25 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Loved your picture of the moon in the previous post. It is so cool to see boardwalk and Epcot so empty which makes all the details stand out. Amazing photos!
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The IG entrance is clearly the way to start the day. Peaceful!
Oh my goodness, completely! However, I am worried by what it will be like when the Skyride system opens... will it be inundated? I hope not, but it is a fear of mine.
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But I wonder where the Yorkshire family ended up?
Not at Test Track, I know that much!
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Test Track sounded fun, as always! That's kind of funny that you were finished so quickly that you didn't know what to do next. That doesn't happen often!
No, I know. It was such a pleasant surprise, but it did leave me thinking "now what?" Not often that happens at Disney!
Loved your picture of the moon in the previous post.
If you like that, then you're in for a real treat, albeit that will be much, much later in this trip report. There's a lot to squeeze in between now and then, but it is worth the wait.
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It is so cool to see boardwalk and Epcot so empty which makes all the details stand out. Amazing photos!
I was so pleased that it was so quiet. It's been a long time since it's been that deserted in Disney.
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It looks like you had a great start to the day at Epcot. It seems like it must have been pretty empty. The only thing that ever bothers me at Epcot is that it is so spread out (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) making the walks from place to place so long. That must have been a challenge to your ankle.
It looks like you had a great start to the day at Epcot. It seems like it must have been pretty empty. The only thing that ever bothers me at Epcot is that it is so spread out (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) making the walks from place to place so long. That must have been a challenge to your ankle.
To be honest, every park is spread out when you've got something wrong with your foot. It did Ok the first few days, then we were on the cruise. It only started to play up when we returned from the cruise and we had five days of park time, which was tough on the ankle. That's when I went for medication. However, hopefully (keep those fingers crossed) the end is in sight - surgery three weeks on Tuesday.....
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.
A nice early morning start in Epcot and the park looks so deserted! Quite nice that your were in the first ride of the day for TT! That CM was a bit rude in France as it wasn't your fault that you were let in. Nice photos from the Boardwalk on the way to Epcot.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Bummer that your phone wasn't working! Well, that explains why I didn't hear back from you. . Darn technology! I have the opposite problem as you...you wake up too early when you arrive at WDW. I wake up too late!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I enjoyed your pictures of the Boardwalk resort area so empty and how fun to be one of the first ones through the IG in the early a.m.! Sorry your ankle was feeling a little sore. Hope the surgery corrects it for you.
A nice early morning start in Epcot and the park looks so deserted! Quite nice that your were in the first ride of the day for TT! That CM was a bit rude in France as it wasn't your fault that you were let in.
Let's just say he was very full of his own self importance...
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Nice photos from the Boardwalk on the way to Epcot.
Bummer that your phone wasn't working! Well, that explains why I didn't hear back from you. . Darn technology!
Hopefully you got my message too. I was so sad about that. I relied on Facebook in the end for messages. I really hate that phone and I'm not sure I'll bother with it again, as Facebook does for most people these days....
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I have the opposite problem as you...you wake up too early when you arrive at WDW. I wake up too late!
That's the problem I guess with travelling to Disney from the other way!
I enjoyed your pictures of the Boardwalk resort area so empty and how fun to be one of the first ones through the IG in the early a.m.! Sorry your ankle was feeling a little sore. Hope the surgery corrects it for you.
Oh I hope so too. I was in so much pain with it over the weekend, I just want it over and done with.
Thursday 11 January – part three: stick with Joel in the future!
We headed outside, and I was a bit speechless, as it was only 8:20am. I honestly thought doing Test Track would take up the whole of Extra Magic Hour. Ok, now what to do? I was so sure about this, I didn’t even have a list of what was open, so I took a quick look at the My Disney Experience app and saw the Seas with Nemo with Friends was one of the attractions, so we headed that way…
We literally walked on, albeit through a very long queue and took a clamshell each, it was that quiet.
I tried to get some shots on the ride and, by using sports mode, I got a few good ones.
We then headed over to see the manatees, one of whom did a 360 degree turn, specially for me, I’m sure.
There was some other marine life around, although in truth, not a lot…
Mark overheard some Cast Members commenting on everything that was wrong in the aquarium, but as soon as they saw him, they stopped…
As we headed downstairs, Mark noticed that Turtle Talk with Crush appeared to be up and running. I’m not sure if it’s open during Extra Magic Hours and Disney’s website shed no light on the issue, as apparently the Seas with Nemo and Friends are not supposed to be open, but obviously they were this morning. Anyway, I’m going to claim it was the first show of the day just to continue our list of firsts…
We went in there and I became absolutely entranced by the rays they have in here. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed them before. I’m sure they were always here, but I don’t remember. I couldn’t believe the way they kept pressing themselves up against the glass and I’m sure I gained one friend who followed me around.
Soon enough we were let into the show and we were the first two in. It was such a fun show with one kid (Joel) being asked what his name was by Crush and his answer? “How big do turtles grow?” Crush tried again and got the kid’s name and told him he needed to stick with Joel in the future, as it was easier!
There were some old bits we remembered from before, like when Dory gets crushed up against the screen by a whale, but there were a lot of bits that were completely new, as they involved characters from Finding Dory, which was neat. It’s been a while since we’ve seen this and I’m glad we got the chance to go back.
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Peaceful!
There's a lot to squeeze in between now and then, but it is worth the wait. 
That CM was a bit rude in France as it wasn't your fault that you were let in. 
Nice photos from the Boardwalk on the way to Epcot. 
I honestly thought doing Test Track would take up the whole of Extra Magic Hour. Ok, now what to do? I was so sure about this, I didn’t even have a list of what was open, so I took a quick look at the My Disney Experience app and saw the Seas with Nemo with Friends was one of the attractions, so we headed that way… 
and took a clamshell each, it was that quiet. 
Anyway, I’m going to claim it was the first show of the day just to continue our list of firsts… 
I’m sure they were always here, but I don’t remember. I couldn’t believe the way they kept pressing themselves up against the glass and I’m sure I gained one friend who followed me around. 
Crush tried again and got the kid’s name and told him he needed to stick with Joel in the future, as it was easier! 
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