Ally's Great Make-A-Wish WDW Trip Report: We're Back! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ally's Great Make-A-Wish WDW Trip Report: We're Back!
For introductions, please see pre-trippie, here: Okay, I can't figure out how to post the link, but it's in the pre-trip reports under Ally's Great Make-a-Wish WDW Pre-trip Report. sorry
Quickie intros:
DH- Mr won't let on he's having a good time
me- certifiable Disney nut
DS- 17 usually doesn't mind being with the family
DD- 9 and our Wish Kid, Miss Chatterbox
To be featured later:
DMomo- the photo-taking queen (my mom)
DPapaBear- Mr. Popular (my dad)
Our grand adventure started with us driving to Portland (about 2 hours away) on Saturday.
It was raining, but we saw at least three rainbows on the way.
Make-a-Wish arranged for us to stay at the Sheraton by the airport because our flight was at 6 am(!) on Sunday. That was good, because I got to do the in/out dance of forgetfulness without TOO much pressure..just the family sighing in the car, no missed flight threats.
We made a side trip to Sonic (yum!) for my first cheeseburger in months (trying to lose weight before the trip) I lost 12 pounds! Yay for Mom! I’ll let you know later if I gained it all back on the trip.
On the way, DH saw Malibu Grand Prix, which is a go-cart course for *ahem* grown men, and wanted to try it with DS. They both spun off the course at different times, which made it way more fun for DD and I than we had expected.(Supportive Point and Laugh)
Finally we got to the hotel and checked in. Yay! It’s really going to happen now! Wren at the counter was very sweet, and we got a “preferred” room, which was very cool. (Chocolates on the nightstand!!)
Sunday morning 3 am came very quickly. Fortunately everyone woke up happy. (Mom got coffee) We left the hotel on time (first miracle of the trip) We are on our way!!!
Portland Airport is pretty quiet at that time of morning. UNTIL you reach baggage check-in. Oops, big suitcase is overweight at 54#, oh well easy fix. Good thing family isn’t easily embarrassed...Off to security. We then discover DH driver’s license expired on his birthday. LAST MONTH!! This red-flags him immediately, and he is sent to the suspicious characters’ line, which is where I would send him too, if I was in security. I swap bags with him, because he has the nebulizer and the enteral pump and all the meds in his carry-on, and I’m figuring that would be 2 strikes against him, too spooky! Halfway through our *innocent citizen* line, we discover the security guy red-flagged DS boarding pass instead of DH, causing DS to have to hop the line over to the *suspicious characters* line.
So in classic cliffhanger style...
WILL we make it through security in time? WILL they lock up DH and throw away the key? WILL DH have a panic attack, since this is his first time flying *EVER*?
Awesome start! I'm cracking up here, with the images. Great photos, btw!!! love the rainbow... DH obviously didn't get my PassPorter hint that you're supposed to check your ID before you go! Can't wait to read more... hurry, hurry!!!
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We left the hotel on time (first miracle of the trip) We are on our way!!! 
This red-flags him immediately, and he is sent to the suspicious characters’ line, which is where I would send him too, if I was in security.
Halfway through our *innocent citizen* line, we discover the security guy red-flagged DS boarding pass instead of DH, causing DS to have to hop the line over to the *suspicious characters* line. 
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