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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 haven't done any kind of trip report writing in a while and thought it was a good time since DS is with his Dad for a week. I'm usually on the boards taking quick peeks at work so I don't usually have time to respond to everyone like I want to.
I've been living vicariously through other people's trips for a couple of years. Our last trip to Disney was in 2011 during Hurricane Irene. But that's another long story.
A little background. Andrew has been asking to go to Hollywood for a couple of years now. He watches these shows that "invite" you to be a part of the audience and he's hooked. There are problems with this theory that I'll get to later. Anyway, I started thinking about summer trips back in September. I finally considered a trip to Southern California. It is a good time to go since I'm still employed and can afford to pay for such a trip. There have been a lot of layoffs at work with the most recent one being this past June. Anyway, I committed when we got an unexpected bonus at work in January and I bought the airfare with it.
Who's going -
Andrew - DS who is a newly minted Disney "adult" at the ripe old age of 10. Looking forward to Carsland and promised to take a nap on the plane.
Myself - Pam - 42 year old mother of one. Andrew is quite helpful in the past few years on trips so I'm not too overwhelmed. Looking forward to all new and different things California has to offer.
Pardon the picture. It's the most recent taken at a Philadelphia Union soccer game and we got soaked waiting out a downpour. Andrew also decided to use his free scarf giveaway as a pirate bandana around his head.
Where to stay -
I knew I couldn't afford to stay on Disney property so I started looking at the hotels within walking distance to the Disney Parks. Hojo's had more good reviews than bad plus there was a discount on Mouse Savers, so HoJo it was. Plus as a bonus they were giving out Harlem Globetrotter tickets when you booked. Score! I used the Globetrotter tickets as Andrew's birthday present and went for his birthday. We ended up with front row seats and he got to be a part of the show. This also ended up being the night of the father/son event at his school that had booked this game. So he got to show off a bit in front of his friends.
Plans -
I got the Southern California City Pass that includes a Disney 3 day park hopper, Universal Studios and Sea World. We are also taking a day to go to the Warner Brothers studio tour, see Hollywood and the surrounding area, and I want to go to the science center to see the space shuttle. Going to the beach is still up in the air. We live about an hour from the Jersey Shore, so it's not like we've never seen the ocean before. Just not the Pacific Ocean.
When we're going - Just a short 2 weeks away.
August 19-26. The Disney blockout dates for SC passholders is lifted starting this week, but from what I've read it shouldn't affect the crowds too much.
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Fun with airlines and airfare.
Back in January we had a meeting at work about what direction the CEO hopped to take the business in and blah blah blah, you aren't getting raises again, blah blah blah. " But I did convince the board to give you bonuses this year." Wait, what? After the shock wore off, because frankly no one was expecting the board to give us anything I knew the trip would be a reality.
I had been pricing airfare just for the fun of it and knew I could get round trip for about $500 per person. That's about as low as I'd seen it and knew it wasn't going to get any lower, so I went ahead and booked with American Airlines.
A few months later and American Airlines announces their merger with US Air. All still seems fine though. We leave out of Philly on August 19th with a layover in Chicago O'Hare airport, then flying into Santa Ana. I didn't want to deal with the larger LAX airport and try and keep an eye on Andrew by myself. Coming home on August 26th we have the same layover in Chicago. One detail that slipped by me is that we will be arriving / leaving airports during rush hour traffic both in the AM and PM. My dad, being the saint that he is, has offered to drive us to and pick us up from the airport. Not only does this mean driving in rush hour traffic but it also means navigating the never ending construction on I-95 thru Philly. He says he doesn't mind and he doesn't have anything better to do. This is actually kind of true. He retired last year and if he's not puttering around the yard he's reading and taking naps.
I was feeling nostalgic this evening, so I'll stop with a picture of Andrew from his very first trip when he was 21 months old. He ran up to every character with hugs and kisses. Minnie loved this and scooped him into her lap and started tickling him.
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8 More days.
I did a test run of packing to see if I could get away with just one checked bag and a carry on for the two of us. I could. $25 more bucks in my pocket to spend on something useful like dinner. Yesterday I told Andrew to pick out the shirts he wanted to take and I was a little surprised at a couple of choices. He's not one to wear his Philly team jerseys outside of PA, but he chose his Philly's jersey and Eagles jersey.
Andrew also has a loose tooth. I'm hoping it comes out before the trip. This is the third one this month. The other two came out at times that could have been better. One came out in the car on the way to camp one morning. That one got lost in the backseat of the car somewhere and even though I gave the car a good cleaning I still didn't find the tooth. The second one came out while he was at his dad's house. He said he was looking at it while in bed and dropped it and couldn't find it again. At least that one is somewhere at the ex's place and not in my car. I'm totally expecting this third one to come out while we're in the air and can't get up to use the restroom. That would be my luck.
All confirmations and directions are printed and ready to go. The only thing left to do is sit back and wait. Oh, and do laundry and pack.
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All still seems fine though. We leave out of Philly on August 19th with a layover in Chicago O'Hare airport, then flying into Santa Ana. I didn't want to deal with the larger LAX airport and try and keep an eye on Andrew by myself. Coming home on August 26th we have the same layover in Chicago. One detail that slipped by me is that we will be arriving / leaving airports during rush hour traffic both in the AM and PM. 
He says he doesn't mind and he doesn't have anything better to do. 
This is actually kind of true. He retired last year and if he's not puttering around the yard he's reading and taking naps. 
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