Who's Ready For An Awesome August Adventure?! August 2014 PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Who's Ready For An Awesome August Adventure?! August 2014 PTR
Hello and welcome to my Pre-Trip Report!
With just under two months to go, it’s time to get started planning! Well, actually the planning for this trip began a long, long time ago! Way back in November to be exact.
Let’s start with intros!
My name is Shelly. I am the wife, the mom, the ultimate Disney planner! I work part time as at Teaching Assistant at our elementary school. And I work full time as a Travel Agent, specializing in…… you guessed it – Disney Destinations! In my spare time I enjoy photography, shopping, and spending time with all my boys – DH & I have been married for 16 years and have 2 boys, 15 and 12 ½. Plus a Sheltie named Captain “Jack” Sparrow!
DH has become quite the Disney fan himself! He didn’t used to like to admit it, but anymore he will tell anyone that will listen! DH works long hours as a Quality Assurance Inspector, so he really enjoys taking it easy on our Disney Vacations! In his spare time he enjoys spending time with the boys and being outdoors.
DS15 is our oldest. Hard to believe that he is just a few years away from being a man. He will be a sophomore in HS this fall. He enjoys writing stories, being with his friends, play video games, skateboarding, and archery. He is a thrill ride seeker and my WDW ride buddy! He still loves Disney and I hope that doesn’t change anytime soon. DS is very out-going and hilarious. I’m sure he will give you some laughs in the Trip Report that is to come!
DS12 (will be 13 just after this trip) is our youngest, but is growing up quickly. He will be in 7th grade this fall. He loves playing video games and for years & years he loved Lego’s, but sadly he is outgrowing them. (Although I’m not sad that I will no longer be spending hours of my vacation time inside the Lego Store in DTD )Most of all he LOVES soccer!! He has played since he was 4 and will be starting on the MS team in the fall. He also loves Disney very much and I can always count on him if I want to talk Disney!
Here we are on our last WDW trip - January 2014:
And here we are just a few weeks ago at our local park:
We started going to WDW in 2005. DH and I never went as children. DS12 was 3, actually turned 4 on our first trip and DS15 was 6. Great ages to experience Disney for the first time! We all fell in love instantly and have gone back 10 more times since then!! Not to mention I have made a career out of it!
Our WDW trip history includes:
CBR Oct 2005
POFQ May 2007
CSR May 2008
CBR Jan 2009
POR and OKW Nov 2009
BWI Nov 2010
CBR and Poly Aug 2011
BC May 2012
GF and Poly Dec 2012
YC Aug 2013
WL Jan 2014
So with 11 trips and 11 different resorts under our belt, we are pretty well traveled when it comes to WDW!!
Up Next: Dates and Resort(s)
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Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel