Gentlemen, Start Your Engines (NH, RED SOX & NASCAR!) **Updated 2/11** 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines (NH, RED SOX & NASCAR!) **Updated 2/11** COMPLETE
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines (NH, RED SOX & NASCAR!)
Campers:
Jeffrey – DH(42) camping since forever, die-hard NASCAR fan, converted die-hard RED SOX fan (he’s married to me…he doesn’t really have a choice )
Dyan – Me(39) camping since 1999, NASCAR fan, die-hard RED SOX fan (and fan of a particular Reds pitcher)
Kyle – DS(14) camping since 1999, NASCAR fan, die-hard RED SOX fan.
Here we are on our WDW trip last August, but I am sure you won’t recognize Kyle when you see his pictures in subsequent updates. Just wait…you’ll understand!
Dates:
Wednesday, June 27th – Monday, July 2nd 2007
Destination:
Epsom Valley Campground – Site #20 – Epsom, NH
with visits to Fenway Park, NH International Speedway and a Rainforest!
If any of you remember, we had our last camping trip cut short due to a minor problem. We were getting ready for our weekend trip to NH for the September NASCAR race when we had a campfire…with our pop-up trailer. Jeffrey (a firefighter/EMT/emergency dispatcher, mind you) had our pop-up connected to an inappropriate extension cord in the backyard. I had been loading the refrigerator while he was at work and kept getting zapped whenever I opened the door. Now, this had been happening to me over the course of the week, but I was the only one getting zapped (hindsight…this was because I was the only barefooted person going in & out of the trailer). Anyway, I was waiting for him to get out of work & come home with some hamburgers because they didn’t have any at the store that morning. He came home, I got them ready and we went out to put them in the refrigerator & close up the pop-up to get ready to go. Imagine our surprise to find the entire trailer filled with smoke. He’s yelling, “Smoke condition” We jump out of the trailer and run around to where we plug it in. The entire side was torched! The fire was out, the cord completely melted and the side of the trailer black as black could be.
What to do? I turn to my firefighter , who is dialing his cell phone to call….his DAD!! So, I go into the house and call 911. I told the dispatcher we did not need the sirens & all that, just to send a truck because the fire was already out and we just needed to have a report written up. Next thing you know I hear all sorts of sirens, followed by a big bright red engine coming down the road. All the guys jump out and are circling our trailer and then they start shooting the breeze with DH while we wait for the fire inspector. Soon another fire engine shows up. I’m like, “What is going on now?” One of the firefighters laughs and says to me, “We ordered take out right before your call came in. They are coming to get our money so they can pick it up for us.” Oh, brother. Not long after that the fire inspector showed up in his CAR! He deemed it accidental and was on his merry way.
Long story short, we (okay, I) spent the rest of the evening having conversations with the insurance company and made a call to the campground to let them know we weren’t sure what our plan was going to be & that we would keep them updated. In the meantime, Jeffrey & his dad were assessing the damage and it didn’t look so bad once you got beyond the soot. The fire retardant material really stood up to the fire. Jeffrey cleaned it up well enough so we could camp in it for one evening (using an appropriately coded extension cord for the A/C) in order that we could attend the race. Over the course of the winter, the PopTart (I mean, pop-up) was fixed to good-as-new condition. You wouldn’t even know there was a fire. So, we decided a longer camping trip was in order! Phew!
That said, we decided on a 5 night stay at Epsom Valley Campground to make up for some of the time we missed. While Jeffrey has camped at a multitude of places, Kyle & I have only camped here. We the folks that run the place and they are really good to us in return. Campsite #20 has been ‘our site’ since we got the PopTart 2 years ago. Prior to that, we were across the way in our tent at site #1.
On this trip we will be camping, visiting Fenway Park, NH International Speedway and a Rainforest!
One of the NASCAR legends, Junie Dunlavey (#90) is a good friend of our family. He's been an owner for 50 years. Just recently retired. Pretty much every driver has rookied for him.
__________________
LisaJ
I've stayed at: Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk Inn, Beach Club, Yacht Club and Port Orleans Riverside.
We knew it was going to be a hot one, as indicated by the weather forecasters and the temperature in our house the night before! 91° We weren’t planning on turning the central air on, but with that temperature in the house, no one was going to sleep. So, being in total oblivion in the house, we really weren’t ready for the 99° heat that greeted us when we ventured outside.
We took our time getting ready in the morning, as we didn’t want to be setting up the PopTart when the sun was high in the sky with those temperatures. Packed our clothes, put the food in the coolers and loaded everything we hadn’t loaded into the Explorer. We hit the road at 1:30pm. Kyle kept himself busy with his mp3 player and DSLite, while Jeffrey and I listened to Chad Perrone & Bronson Arroyo! We also found it ‘entertaining’ to watch the temperature on the digital thermometer. The highest we noticed was 104°!!
We arrived at Epsom Valley Campground in Epsom, NH at 3:40pm. We made pretty good time, especially since we decided to stay on Rte. 95 and not go directly through Boston! We were the only campers in the safari area, but that would change over the course of the weekend as race fans drove in. We set up the PopTart, which took longer than usual in the heat. Once it was ‘popped up’, we hooked up the electricity and turned on the A/C so I could fix everything on the inside. Poor Jeffrey worked mostly outside and was soaked to the bone by the time everything was all set. We sat in the trailer for a while so Jeffrey could cool off. We talked about where we should go to eat. (We usually go out to eat on set-up day and in this heat there was no way either one of us wanted to brave the grill!)
Our campsite (I took these Thursday morning, but thought they would be suitable to post in this update)
Eventually, we got it together. Jeffrey got changed and then he & Kyle made a run to the restroom, while I was doing something outside. I don’t remember what I was doing, but one of the ladies (Jean) who run the campground pulled up in her golf cart. First thing out of her mouth? “No fires this year?” We talked for a minute and then she drove away. Jeffrey & Kyle returned and we were off.
We still didn’t know where we wanted to eat, so we took a drive while listening to the Red Sox. I convinced Jeffrey to take a drive into downtown Concord so I could show him the CCANH, where Bronson played his concert in January. (He still can’t believe I drove all the way up there with Kyle to see it!) Here’s the photo I had made with Bronson after that concert. **Notice the grip he has on my shoulder compared to the grip on Kyle’s** When he saw me he greeted me with a great big, “Hey! Back again, huh?” I wonder if he still has the present I gave him a little later on that night.
After our drive around Concord, we decided to eat at UNO Chicago Grill. We have those at home and we’d eaten at this particular restaurant once before, so UNO it was. Jeffrey & I both had one of their great big burgers! I had mine with no bun & a side of steamed broccoli, while Jeffrey had his with a side of fries. Kyle had the nachos with chili only. I was starved as I had yet to eat all day!Everyone gave their meals a Neither Jeffrey nor Kyle finished their meals, but we didn’t take it to go. The nachos would only have gotten soggy & there wasn’t much left of Jeffrey’s meal worth taking.
Bellies full, we took a walk over to the LL Bean Outlet. They had a lot of great buys in there, but most everything was already monogrammed. I probably could have taken the embroidery out, but there really wasn’t anything calling our names where I would want to do that.
After that quick shopping trip, we were back in the truck on our way to Wal-Mart, while listening to the remainder of the Red Sox game. They were tied in extra innings and my favorite reliever – Okajima- was on the mound. When we pulled into Wal-Mart the game was still on, but we could hear some thunder closing in & the sky looked like it was about to open up so we decided to go in. Thank goodness we did because not 2 minutes after we were in there, we could hear the pounding of the rain on the roof.
We browsed and loaded up the cart. We shopping in tax-free NH! I bought new pairs of Red Sox pajama bottoms for me & Kyle. Jeffrey said he didn’t need another pair. Oh well, more for me! We also picked up some adult beverages for the trip. When we were on the grocery side of the store, I made Jeffrey pose for this picture. There was a time when I wouldn’t even think of asking him to touch something with the #24 on it. I guess he’s softening. Maybe it had something to do with me saying, “Come on…for the trip report”
We collected Kyle from the video game department and I paid for our purchases totaling $147! At least it was tax-free. While we were in line, I noticed a sign that the Jeff Gordon simulator would be set up in the Wal-Mart parking lot on Thursday & Friday from 2-6pm. We made a note of that for the next day.
Purchases in hand, out into the rain we went. It had slowed down and the thunder had passed, so it wasn’t too bad. Kyle called my dad on our way back to the campground to get the Red Sox report. They lost to Seattle 1-2. We made it back to the campground without incident. We were still the only campers in the safari. Since it was still raining & it was still HOT, we decided not to have a campfire and to watch a movie in the PopTart instead. (We don’t have TV reception, but we pack the TV & DVD player for times like these)
While we were getting ready to watch “Shooter” Kyle managed to let out a chili nacho burp nearly in my face that would put Stitch to shame. Blech! We enjoyed the movie and then we went to bed.
**Oh yes, before I forget. I dedicated each day of this trip to a different Red Sox player. I know, I know….NERD!! Today was the only day that I did not wear a Red Sox shirt, that is until bed time. Every night I wore my Red Sox pajama bottoms & Bronson Arroyo Red Sox shirt and slept with my Bronson Arroyo pillow! So, today, even though he’s no longer an official Red Sox, was dedicated to Bronson Arroyo! **
The best thing today was getting away The worst thing today was the humidity The funniest thing today was Kyle’s chili nacho burp (that’s according to Kyle) The weather today was HOT! HOT! HOT!
Up next: The unveiling of Kyle, simulated racing and we have neighbors!!
I can't wait to hear about your experiences at the race. I was suppose to go but a work thing came up instead. I only live a few miles from the track...it made me sad to see all the trailers go by and know I wasn't going.
I know you must have had a great time!!! More please!
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: 
)
…with our pop-up trailer. Jeffrey (a firefighter/EMT/emergency dispatcher, mind you) had our pop-up connected to an inappropriate extension cord
in the backyard. I had been loading the refrigerator while he was at work and kept getting zapped 
whenever I opened the door. Now, this had been happening to me over the course of the week, but I was the only one getting zapped (hindsight…this was because I was the only barefooted person going in & out of the trailer). Anyway, I was waiting for him to get out of work & come home with some hamburgers because they didn’t have any at the store that morning. He came home, I got them ready and we went out to put them in the refrigerator & close up the pop-up to get ready to go. Imagine our surprise to find the entire trailer filled with smoke. He’s yelling, “Smoke condition” We jump out of the trailer and run around to where we plug it in. The entire side was torched! The fire was out, the cord completely melted and the side of the trailer black as black could be.
, who is dialing his cell phone to call….his DAD!! So, I go into the house and call 911. 
I told the dispatcher we did not need the sirens & all that, just to send a truck because the fire was already out and we just needed to have a report written up. Next thing you know I hear all sorts of sirens, followed by a big bright red engine coming down the road. All the guys jump out and are circling our trailer and then they start shooting the breeze with DH while we wait for the fire inspector. Soon another fire engine shows up. I’m like, “What is going on now?” One of the firefighters laughs and says to me, “We ordered take out right before your call came in. They are coming to get our money so they can pick it up for us.” Oh, brother. 
(I mean, pop-up) was fixed to good-as-new condition. You wouldn’t even know there was a fire. So, we decided a longer camping trip was in order! Phew! 
the folks that run the place and they are really good to us in return. Campsite #20 has been ‘our site’ since we got the PopTart 2 years ago. Prior to that, we were across the way in our tent at site #1. 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Too funny about the other truck coming to get their money for their takeout 
PassPorter Guide Author
We weren’t planning on turning the central air on, but with that temperature in the house, no one was going to sleep. So, being in total oblivion in the house, we really weren’t ready for the 99° heat that greeted us when we ventured outside.
I had mine with no bun & a side of steamed broccoli, while Jeffrey had his with a side of fries. Kyle had the nachos with chili only. I was starved as I had yet to eat all day!Everyone gave their meals a 
Neither Jeffrey nor Kyle finished their meals, but we didn’t take it to go. The nachos would only have gotten soggy & there wasn’t much left of Jeffrey’s meal worth taking.
I bought new pairs of Red Sox pajama bottoms for me & Kyle. Jeffrey said he didn’t need another pair. 
At least it was tax-free. While we were in line, I noticed a sign that the Jeff Gordon simulator would be set up in the Wal-Mart parking lot on Thursday & Friday from 2-6pm. We made a note of that for the next day.
We made it back to the campground without incident. We were still the only campers in the safari. Since it was still raining & it was still HOT, we decided not to have a campfire and to watch a movie in the PopTart 
I know, I know….NERD!! 
Linear Mode
