A Floridian heads north - onward to Alaska - Complete! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
A Floridian heads north - onward to Alaska - Complete!
Hi everyone! I know I have the PTR for the Western Caribbean cruise going on (need to update again), but this Sunday - I will leave for a two week work trip to Alaska - and since this will be my first trip to Alaska - I felt I had to do a live TR (since that will be the only way to get it all written for your reading pleasure prior to the cruise departure).
How lucky am I to have work paying for my trip to Alaska!! I am going up a couple of days early to get a little touring time - since, while the rest of the class are staying later to enjoy Alaska - I have to head home to get all my packing, etc done for the western Caribbean cruise.... and have a wedding planning meeting about caterers, florists and music too!
Here are the details -
Sunday July 5 - Leave JAX for Anchorage via Atlanta
Arrive - cab to the Anchorage Hilton
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday - touring in the area - considering a rental car - maybe.... still playing this by ear. My classmates will be arriving on Wed and we all have to have class on Thursday and Friday.
I will change hotels on Wednesday to the Hawthorne Suites for the class.
Friday evening - our classmate Lisa, who lives in Anchorage - is hosting a class party at her home and promising a true "Alaskan feast" with lots of "unique dining experiences". Since Lisa and her husband Mike are avid fishers and hunters - I can't wait to see what the options are!
We have Saturday and Sunday off - so four of us (well three in the class plus one spouse) are driving/taking the train (yet undecided) to Seward for the day and I am thinking of a whale watching/glacier tour & shopping in and around Seward.
Sunday is an open day - and asking Lisa and Mike for input.
Monday - Wed we have class during the day. Wednesday evening a group of us are driving from Anchorage to Homer - and the rest of the class will fly into Homer on Thursday morning. We will stay overnight in Homer on Thursday and fly out to Port Graham (a native village) to meet with the elders while we are there. Friday evening we will end class and most of us will fly back to Anchorage. Saturday - my plane for JAX doesn't leave until 7pm on Saturday night - so I have more time to tour.
My flight from Anchorage back to Atlanta is a red eye - I just hope I can sleep (debating the benefits of benedryl) after two weeks on Alaska time.... I land back in JAX at 930am on Sunday morning. Sunday will be spent cleaning, unpacking and desperately trying NOT to sleep so that I can sleep on regular time and attempt to reset my body as quick as possible to east coast time.
That's it - not a major tourist trip to Alaska - but a trip none the less and I hope to be able to see and do some tourist things while I am visiting our 49th state!
Maybe not a touristy trip, but I'm jealous, jealous, jealous. I absolutely adore Alaska and I think the Homer Spit maybe the funkiest place on the planet. Have a blast Terri!
__________________
Karen, aka Zack's Mom - Lover of all Things Disney and the San Francisco Giants!
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.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Thursday - July 2 - more prep time!!
I am home from Atlanta - and have the laundry from Atlanta (and whatever else was in the hamper) and now I am trying to figure out what type of clothes I need to take with me. I know the weather will be in the 50, 60 and 70s while I am there - with some rainy days... so I am thinking I should pack like I will be in the Northeast in the spring.
I am thinking jeans, long sleeve shirts, fleece jacket, socks, and warm shoes. We will have some class days where we have to dress in business attire - and we will have field days and of course some weekend time that we can be in whatever we want.
A couple of us are talking about driving from Anchorage to Skagway and stopping along the way based on a web-based driving tour that we have downloaded. I will probably finish all my packing on Saturday while Chris is at work, but at least the laundry is done, and now I just have to figure out what outfits to bring with me.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Parlor Panther in 'stalking mode'
with the packing Terri.
Linear Mode
