Today's Special Moments are Tomorrow's Memories - A September 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Today's Special Moments are Tomorrow's Memories - A September 2014 PTR
TODAY’S SPECIAL MOMENTS ARE TOMORROW’S MEMORIES… A SEPTEMBER 2014 PTR
Hi! My name is Kristin, and I am back for round two! Last year I wrote my first PTR and TR; First, Births, and Girths…A September 2013 Trip. The links are in my signature if you wish to relive our AMAZING first trip together as a family. It was more than we could ever imagine it would be, and as soon as DH made comments that started with, “When we come back next year…” I knew he caught the excitement, wonder, and magic of Disney World. I am ecstatic that we are returning to Disney this year and it is safe to say it probably will not be our last trip either. This year’s trip will be full of celebrations and parties…I absolutely cannot wait!
Let me start by saying…we earned this trip…BIG TIME! I believe I finished my previous trip’s report in February and then, as most of you can relate, life happened and I was unable to check in on PassPorter as often as I would have liked. I intended to begin this PTR at our 180 day mark (March 17); however, other life events began to poison my excitement. At the end of March/beginning of April, my uncle passed away rather unexpectedly. My family rallied around my aunt and cousin, providing support throughout the process (which my uncle made easier not wanting a viewing or service). This was tough for us, but we would soon learn how tough we really were. About a week later, my grandfather learned he would need to have his gall bladder removed and was scheduled for surgery. He had experienced pain in his abdomen for several months and his doctors believed this was the cause. After surgery, we received a devastating blow that the doctors could not remove the gall bladder because it was impacted with tumors. My grandfather had stage 4 cancer. From the time we learned about his cancer to the time he passed; three weeks. I lost my grandfather on May 1. The remainder of May seemed to carry on normally, until the very end. My DH began to experience flu-like symptoms and after 2 days without urinating, we knew there was a problem. DH had Clostridium Difficile (or C. Diff.). C. Diff. is a bacteria that attacks your colon and intestines. When you take antibiotics, you essentially kill off all of the bacteria in your body, including the good stuff. Once your body is completely vulnerable and you encounter these bacteria, it wreaks havoc. Ironically, while visiting my grandfather in the hospital, DH was on antibiotics for a sinus infection. We think he picked up the bacteria at that time. DH spent almost five days in the hospital getting treatment, was released for a week taking an antibiotic that eventually failed him, and returned to the hospital for another five days. After release the second time, the antibiotic he was taking seemed to work until he finished it the weekend of July 4. Within a day of finishing the antibiotic, DH was not feeling well again. The following Tuesday, he went to the hospital my aunt works to get another opinion and remained in the hospital for a week. This time, they treated DH for Post-Infectious IBS and Bacterial Re-growth. The poor guy is on so many medications right now I had to purchase a pill sorter to keep them straight! He is only 30! He is not completely out of the woods but he is well on his way to feeling better each day and rebuilding his stamina. My parents were an amazing support system through all of this. During DH’s second hospital visit, they kept Hannah at their house for a week, and during the third hospital visit, my DM came to our house to stay for a week and helped with Hannah, running my errands, and helping me keep the house clean. We are very blessed to have a solid family and a solid faith. I honestly do not know where we would be without either!
If you are keeping count that is three large life events our family had to trudge through; these things come in three’s right? Wrong…not for us, because apparently we can handle more. The weekend of Father’s Day, DH and I learned we were pregnant with baby #2! Yes! This was very exciting news! We surprised our dads with pregnancy tests, everyone was just so ecstatic, and we all had tears of joy! Unfortunately, our tears of joy turned to tears of sadness as I had a miscarriage the last weekend of June. I was six weeks pregnant. Devastated does not even come close to describing the feelings. My heart was ripped from my chest. NEVERTHELESS…I will continue to pray for healing, strength, perseverance, patience, and support. I know that God’s timing is perfect and that this was not the right time. I am still struggling a bit with re-focusing myself and my thoughts on the plans we still have through the summer, but I will be fine with time. I still have lots of happy events that I am hanging on to with white knuckles…one of them is DISNEY WORLD!
Now, for those of you who followed along with our trip last year, you might remember we had a cast of 18 people. Yeah, we were nuts. To keep everyone up to speed on the planning, I created monthly newsletters using a template in Word, facts, articles, tips, and pictures I found online, and recipes to help pass the time before our trip. Thankfully, we had a smooth vacation with the expectation that everyone was free to explore on their own and we met up for various meals to check in and share our experiences. This year our cast is significantly smaller…Whew! So here we go!
Kristin (Me-32): Wife to Tommy, Mom to Hannah, and the Disney trip planner/researcher for the entire cast. I work full-time as a Federal employee. I love to read trip reports and watch trip videos, help Hannah learn to read and get ready for kindergarten this fall, and date nights with Tommy.
Favorites: Rides – Journey of the Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain Disney Characters – Minnie Mouse, Stitch, Mary Poppins Disney Princesses – Rapunzel, Ariel, Tiana Disney Movies – The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, The Little Mermaid Disney Music – Part of Your World (Little Mermaid), Let the Memories Begin, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella) Disney Restaurant – Flying Fish Café Disney Food – Tonga Toast Activity Outside the Parks – Riding Disney Transportation Vacation Moment – Watching Wishes from Main Street Souvenir Purchase – Disney Snacks Character Meet and Greet – Merida
Tommy (DH-31 during the trip): Amazing husband and father to Hannah. Celebrating his 31st birthday during his second visit to Disney World. Tommy also works full-time as a Federal employee. Tommy loves to hunt, play golf, fish, and just be outdoors. His birthday is two days before we leave so we will celebrate in Disney World again!
Favorites: Ride – Space Mountain Disney Character – Goofy Disney Princess – Jasmine Disney Movie – Pirates of the Caribbean Disney Music – When You Wish Upon a Star Disney Restaurant – Flying Fish Café Disney Food – Steak at Flying Fish Café Activity Outside the Parks – Riding the Boats Vacation Moment – Seeing everyone smile and lodging next to DM and DF Souvenir Purchase – PhotoPass+ for the Memories Character Meet and Greet – Goofy
Hannah (DD – 5 turning 6 during the trip): Hannah is so excited to celebrate ANOTHER birthday in Disney World. Hannah’s interests include playing with her baby dolls and Barbies, coloring, painting, playing outside, dressing up, riding her bike, swimming, and playing school. She LOVES Disney princesses and Disney movies. The first character Hannah met last year was Stitch during breakfast at Ohana. Thank you, Stitch, for paving the way for fantastic character meets the rest of the week! Hannah is VERY excited to see the characters again!
Favorites: Rides – Splash Mountain, Dumbo, Regal Carousel, the Barnstormer Disney Characters – Lilo and Stitch Disney Princesses – Cinderella, Anna, and Elsa Disney Movies – Frozen, Disney Parks: Where Dreams Come True Disney Music – Let It Go, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes Disney Restaurant – Ohana Disney Food – Mickey Mouse Waffles Activity Outside the Parks – Riding the Monorail Vacation Moment – Riding SO MANY Rides Souvenir Purchase – Mickey and Minnie Stuffed Animals Character Meet and Greet – Lilo and Stitch and Goofy
Denise (DM): My mom, my best friend, Gammy to Hannah. DD is her only grandchild and jumped on board immediately when we discussed returning to Disney World together! She retired from Federal service a year ago in June. It seems my parents are busier in retirement than they were while working!
Favorites: Ride – Regal Carousel Disney Character – Minnie Mouse Disney Princess – Merida Disney Movie – Saving Mr. Banks Disney Music – Spoon Full of Sugar Disney Restaurant – Ohana Disney Food – Dole Whip Activity Outside the Parks – Pool Time Vacation Moment – Seeing My Face Full of Tears During Wishes Fireworks Souvenir Purchases – Muffins (DF seemed to think this was a great way to use up leftover snack credits) Character Meet and Greet – Mary Poppins
Rob (DF): My daddy (I am a genuine daddy’s girl!), Poppy to Hannah. DM and DF already vacationed twice on a cruise ship this year but DF admitted he is more excited about Disney World than he was about his cruises. DF’s birthday is the week before we leave, so we will celebrate him too! DF retired from the Police Department a year and a half ago. Again, he is busier now than while he was working!
Favorites: Ride – Pirates of the Caribbean Disney Character – Goofy Disney Princess – Jasmine Disney Movie – Toy Story Disney Music – Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King songs Disney Restaurant – Hoop Dee Doo Revue Disney Food – Anything Family Style Activity Outside the Parks – Spending Time with Hannah Vacation Moment – When Hannah First Saw Him and DM Waiting for her at the Polynesian Last Year Souvenir Purchase – Tee-shirts Character Meet and Greet – Pooh and Friends at Crystal Palace
Up next: We’ve Covered the WHO; How About the WHEN, WHERE, and HOW?
Oh, what a year. So sorry for all you have been through. I know you are looking forward to this wonderful trip. I "hear" your enthusiasm in your writing.
Oh my goodness! That's a lot going on. I knew some of it from facebook, but I didn't realize all the stuff that was going on with your DH. Talk about needing a vacation. It will be much needed that's for sure. I really hope things settle down with everything going on in your lives. Medical stuff is the worst.
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