The Great Big East Coast Adventure - PTR - Page 15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Wow, does it look HOT in your pictures!! I'm glad to know about the work on the reflecting pool. I'm thinking about a trip to DC in the next year or two, but will maybe wait until that work is complete. Great pix from the Museum of Natural History!
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.
I'm a slacker and I'm sorry. The rest of the trip (aside from the great PP meet up I had) was really boring. Just work and a play date with my best friend and her daughter. But I will post the PP picture soon!
I came home and everything has been chaotic since. Vacation Bible School (which I'm volunteering for), work, laundry, and of course the boyfriend. LOL! So it's just been insane.
But I promise to post the photo of me and Colleen tomorrow! It's just so crazy and I've got a killer migraine tonight. But I didn't want to just end so abruptly so I'll kind of do a little wrap-up and whatever.
Thanks for reading along. It wasn't the coolest TR ever but at least you guys got to see a small little taste of Chicago, Baltimore and DC!
It was such a treat for me, having the chance to meet Melanie & Meri(who is just as adorable, if not more so, as you'd imagine from reading about her escapades!). This was my first PP meet, too!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Well you've already answered the black t-shirt & jeans portion. You're crazy!! But glad to hear you survived that heat like a pro!
Meri is just too cute for words!
It's been a few years since I was last in DC and Maryland. Thanks so much for taking us along on your trip! Can't wait to hear more! Hope you're feeling better and things are starting to slow down for you a bit.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Phew! It's been absolutely nuts around here, but I'm determined to wrap this up already.
I'll start with the PP meet - we had a great time! I met up with cubfancolleen, and we had a great chat at Panera in Reston Town Center. She was so sweet and brought Meri a coloring book! Needless to say, it was a hit! She even indulged Meri in a game or two of War (the card game). I really enjoyed talking with her about travel and kids and many other subjects, and I'm so glad we found time to meet up! Here's our photo:
I also wanted to sort of jump back to our Amtrak day real fast, and show you a few photos from the train. We had business class seats, and they were perfectly functional, but nothing special, really. Here's some pix:
The seats
The train car
Meri playing cards with "Baby Emmie"
The seatback pocket
The outlets at our seat (which didn't work for the first hour, much to my chagrin)
A view from the train
The bathroom was up in the front of the car, and we never used it. We also never went to the snack car. We were the second car up from the front of the train.
It was an enjoyable way to travel, but I didn't like that we couldn't put our bags under the seats in front of us. We had to put them in the overhead rack, which I wasn't a fan of. It made it VERY hard to get things in and out... we made it work, though. I would like to do an Amtrak trip on a longer run, with a private room. I think that would be more enjoyable, personally. But this was perfectly fine.
Final thoughts on the entire trip:
Chicago - Loved it. Wish I'd had more time there. Also wish I'd been more prepared for the cold, and that I'd thought to study a map of the city before taking off on the subway to downtown. I had NO idea what was where, and I think it made things tougher than it needed to be.
Long Island - I so enjoyed being out on the water, and I wish I'd had time to ride my cousin's horses some. But it was nice and relaxing, all around. If you go here, definitely check out Greenport. Wonderful shops and beautiful views. Also cruise around Shelter Island a bit if you can. Gorgeous homes, gorgeous views.
Baltimore - I would have liked to have taken more time to meander around the city on foot, but it was SO hot, and we were really starting to wilt. If you go here, pay for an all-day water-taxi ticket. It's worth it. Also, be sure to stop by the fudge place in one of the Harbor Place buildings. They start up around 1215-1230pm with the singing and stuff, and it's so much fun to watch the process of making the fudge, plus listening to those fantastic singers.
If it wasn't so hot, we would have done the paddle boating in the harbor (they had cute dragon ones), and I wish I'd known in advance about the pirate boat adventure thing, because I likely would have done that. But this was all a bit haphazard and "fly by the seat of my pants". At least I know for next time.
Washington DC - I wish it hadn't been so hot. It really put a bit of a damper on the afternoon for me. But we were troopers, and we really got a lot done, all things considered. I wish I had given DC a full day. There's so much more I really wanted to see. There are so many more memorials I wanted to see. I would have also liked to have gone paddle boating in the Tidal Basin. And I would have liked to have eaten at the Hard Rock there. Ah well. We did a lot, all things given, and I'm glad we took the time, even though I had nearly talked myself out of it. I definitely know to end the day with the carousel and then the Museum of Natural History. Those are Meri's two favorites from the trip, and ending with them is probably the best way to get through the day.
I'm still bummed that we missed out on Boston, but it is definitely on my list. I may even give it an extra night, to really get more done! Meri still talks about it all the time, so I know we're going to have to make it a priority.
Thanks for coming along on the ride with me! It wasn't really a relaxing trip, but it was fun, and it was nice to see family and friends.
I don't have any trips currently planned (a few in the pipeline in my head, but I'm not sure if / when they will happen) so I'll have to live vicariously through all of you who are traveling for now.
Great wrap-up, and again, it was great meeting you & Meri. Hope to see you again on a future trip to DC - or maybe we'll meet up mat the World some time!
Enjoyed the report and photos! Your really did get a lot done on this trip. Meri sounds like a great child to travel with--game for pretty much anything and full of spirit and smiles! One of these days we'll meet up in Boston. The Swan Boats are waiting!
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
But I will post the PP picture soon! 
PassPorter Guide Author
Glad you had a good time and made it home safely! 
My normal everyday computer routine!
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Linear Mode
