Ditching the Hubbies for Mousefest - Final Thoughts COMPLETED 3/4/08 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Ditching the Hubbies for Mousefest - Final Thoughts COMPLETED 3/4/08
Ditching the Hubbies for Mousefest
Welcome one and all to the pre-trip of the Ditching the Hubbies for the Mousefest: Hoosier Girls Invade the World, Part Deux. This will be the first in three trip reports over the next 6 months. I feel a little like that Crazy Chick. The title of the trip report was hard to come by after spending many sleepless nights agonizing (ok maybe not agonizing) over what this trip was gonna be called. One night while chatting with Tiff, her DH Eric, said it should be something about leaving the hubbies at home yet again. Well, why not???
Both Chuck and Eric have given us a hard time about going on this second trip without them. But they aren’t the angels you think they might be. : They have their own plans of male domination on each of the homefronts. You know, fast food, sports, computer games, etc.
After our successful and fun-filled trip in June 2006, we knew we would have to do another girls-only trip in the future. Even then, we talked about Mousefest 2007 but put planning on hold as we had plenty of time. After the holidays of 2006, we started talking again and decided that Mousefest 2007 was going to be a possibility. Even though she was planning her cruise in September and I was getting ready to go on the Disneyland PP Girls trip, the planning began.
Tiff and I debated on where we were going to stay for this trip. Just like our previous trip, she was going to supply the resort with her DVC points, and I would pick up the airfare for the both of us. We went back and forth about Port Orleans and Saratoga Springs. Knowing how much she loved her “home” at SSR, I picked SSR and she went into point mode to see what would be used for our stay. We knew we wanted a longer trip and wanted to be there for as much as Mousefest as possible. We decided on our dates of December 5-10, 2007.
Once we had the dates, I started pricing airfare. I was using Northwest for my trip out west and started there. I plugged in our dates and the prices that came up were really good. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake of getting that extra early flight to get us there as soon as possible considering we were both asleep by 10:30pm that first night. After pm’ing back and forth with Tiff, we got the flights ironed out. On February 13, 2007 ( a little less than 10 months prior to our trip) within a few clicks, airfare was purchased for a mere $366.60 round trip for the both of us. By March 5, 2007, we had our ressies for a studio at SSR. We were going to Mousefest!!!
Cast of Characters
Dawn (DawnDenise)—I’ll be fresh off my 36th birthday and this will be my 13th trip to a Disney park. A former (but will always be) Hoosier girl that has been displaced in Louisville, KY. Lover of all things Disney but has a special place in her heart for a gloomy gus named Eeyore. Looking forward to spending time with my Hoosier buddy and some good friends.
Tiff (tigger22)—Closing in on her 30th birthday and this will be her 9th trip to the World. A native Hoosier that takes pity on her former Hoosier pal. A huge fan of Tigger and those crazy chipmunks, Chip and Dale. A proud DVC member and lover of Disney!!
Tiff and I in our “Super” sandwich
Now even though we were going to Mousefest, there was a lot of time for everything to come together.
Coming up: Plans, Plans, Plans…did I mention Plans???
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.
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.
Both Chuck and Eric have given us a hard time about going on this second trip without them. But they aren’t the angels you think they might be. : They have their own plans of male domination on each of the homefronts. You know, fast food, sports, computer games, etc.
Again, why aren't I married? Fast food, check (literally, check my thighs.) Sports, check. Computer games, computer games? Could you have unlocked the one secret part of a man's heart I don't have a claim to? You may have just saved me YEARS of eHarmony fees my friend!
I seriously can't wait to see you, and to meet Tiff. If you two are friends, good enough for me! Can't wait!
__________________
Karen, aka Zack's Mom - Lover of all Things Disney and the San Francisco Giants!
Dawn - I am looking forward to seeing you again and meeting Tiff at Mousefest! Terri and I are staying at SSR, too. There sure are a lot of us there! See you soon.
About This Page: 
The title of the trip report was hard to come by after spending many sleepless nights agonizing (ok maybe not agonizing) over what this trip was gonna be called. One night while chatting with Tiff, her DH Eric, said it should be something about leaving the hubbies at home yet again. 
Well, why not??? 
: They have their own plans of male domination on each of the homefronts. You know, fast food, sports, computer games, etc. 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
You guys are going to have a great time 
I love reading your TRs! 
Yippeeeee! You've started 
the SuperSandwich! 
Linear Mode
