'Moon over the World: Our Dream Disneymoon (Dec. 16-23, 2010) Trip Report - COMPLETED!! 1/16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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'Moon over the World: Our Dream Disneymoon (Dec. 16-23, 2010) Trip Report - COMPLETED!! 1/16
Our Party
Just the two of us! Future DH and I met in college and have been together for 9 years. He’s a secondary history teacher, and I’m an editor in the public relations department of a small college. We finally tied the knot on Oct. 10, and we're honeymooning in Disney!
Our Journey
We’ll be flying in to Orlando International on 12/16 and using Disney transportation for the entirety of our trip. Buses, boats, monorails … here we come! We have to fly back out on 12/23 to make it home in time for the family holiday celebrations.
Our Rooms
We're staying in Disney's Contemporary Resort (CR) for the full seven days! (Originally, we were split between CR and Pop, but our amazing travel agent, Judi helped us roll the reservations into a single seven-night stay at CR.)
We're now down to just 3 days and a sleep until we take off for the happiest place on earth. Getting here wasn't easy! All of the Christmas gifts are bought, boxed, wrapped, boxed again and ready to be shipped off to our families. (DH is taking them to the post office tomorrow morning.) They'll arrive before we do.
Our Disney box is brimming with all sorts of goodies, just waiting to be packed. I've packed our clothes by outfit and day. Our Passporter is all marked up and ready to go. We're overflowing with excitement.
Two problems ... first, our paperwork isn't here! Eek!! Judi assures me it'll arrive in time, so I am not panicking too much about that. :
Second problem is our dog, George. This is the first time we've left him. We made reservations at a local kennel, but as it comes closer, I really can't bear the thought of leaving him in a kennel. It was actually making me sick to think of him locked up all alone.
We're frantically trying to find a friend to walk him and feed him while we're gone so he can stay at home, but it hasn't been easy because it's so close to the holidays. DH has a friend who isn't traveling for the holidays, so we're hopeful she'll be willing to look after George. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get her on the phone today ... hopefully tomorrow.
Oh yea, and third problem, we have two more days of work to get through! And I also have a doctor's appointment as well as my office's holiday pot luck party to prepare for and attend. And there are probably a billion other things I'm 'forgetting' because it's less stressful that way.
Luckily, I was able to take Wednesday off from work. I'll spend the day finishing the packing and organizing so that the car is all packed and ready to go before we go to bed. Thursday morning, we'll be piling into the car at 4am (hopefully after a bowl of oatmeal) to drive to the airport (about 70 minutes away). Our flight leaves at 7am. And then we're off!!
We are wildly excited. I've probably written that about 10 times, but it's so true. We've been on vacations before, but nothing like this!! Six and a half days of no responsibilities, nothing but fun, staying in an awesome hotel, no e-mail or work to bother us. We hope it's going to be the trip of a lifetime.
I likely will NOT update this post while we're there. It seems ridiculous to pay for Internet in this day and age, plus we decided not to bring our lap top. But we will write up notes each night so that we can write a full and complete TR when we return.
We ARE going to be live blog the trip on our honeymoon blog ( disneymoon2010.blogspot.com). We have it scheduled to post the day's itinerary each morning, then we'll update via text throughout the day. (If only you could update passporter by text message!)
YES!!! We found someone to keep an eye on George so that he doesn't have to go into the kennel!! In fact, he'll be able to stay at home, and sleep in his own (our) bed and snooze in his favorite spot (the top of our couch) and bark at all of the squirrels from the living room window.
Rob called a coworker who thought this would be an excellent opportunity to teach her 14-year-old daughter about responsibility and caring for an animal. They're going to visit and walk him and play with him three times a day.
Almost there!! We leave Thursday morning around 4am ... yikes, that's early!
Our Disney mail hasn't arrived yet, but Judi promises that it'll arrive tomorrow. Our fingers and toes are crossed, and we've been praying to the USPS gods!
As a couple, we've never gone on a trip like this before (we usually only go on long weekends, although we've road tripped twice), and I haven't been on a real vacation since I was 16! This barely feels real!
Here's our itinerary:
12/16
Arrive in Orlando at 12:15pm
Epcot
dinner at Les Chefs
12/17
Animal Kingdom with our friend Steven
breakfast at Donald’s Safari
lunch at Yak and Yeti
Dinner at Boma with my aunt
12/18
Breakfast @ Kouzzina
Winter Summerland mini-golf
Downtown Disney shopping
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Café
La Nouba
12/19
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café
Hollywood Studios
lunch at SciFi Dine-in
Epcot
dinner at Via Napoli
12/20
Magic Kingdom
breakfast at Crystal Palace
lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern
Resort time (laundry)
Dinner at Narcoossee’s
Wishes from Poly beach
Magic Kingdom (extra magic hours)
12/21
Breakfast at Kona Café
Epcot
lunch at Le Cellier
dinner at Tutto Italia
12/22
Breakfast at The Wave
Magic Kingdom
Dinner at California Grill
12/23
Breakfast at The Wave
Checkout
We can't wait!! I'll probably post again before we leave late tomorrow night. SO EXCITED!!!
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.