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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So we have 104 days till Disney and I had planned our days for the Deluxe dining. After posting I spent all evening into late night thinking and debating, spent this morning and most of afternoon re-working and rethinking. This afternoon I sat hubby down and talked with him, and made him realize just how much time and money we would be using to get the most out of a deluxe experience, and considering the heat in June told him I really think we should NOT plan deluxe this trip and save it for some other time (as in cooler season time). He does agree and so now I have way totally revised our plans!!!
Saturday June 20th...depart from home very early (as in on the road at 6:00 a.m. cause hubby likes an early start when we drive. Drive for several hours, stop for lunch at a rest area and enjoy a picnic with goodies I will prepare ahead. Drive several more hours and then stop for a filling dinner at a restaurant. Plan to get over the Florida border before checking in for the night (hopefully we can make it without being to tired..all the way to Ocala).
Sunday June 21st: wake fairly early, have breakfast after checking out and hit the road around 7 a.m. or so. Drive straight to Disney and check in early (leaving bags at bell services as room will not be ready I am sure).
Resort we are staying in: Contemporary Resort (last visit as Bay Lake opens in August). Room we have reserved: Tower Room with guaranteed Magic Kingdom View! (yes I know not the best use of DVC points but it was something we really REALLY wanted to do just once).
So here we go:
June 21: Park of the Day: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Pecos Bills/ or Cosmic Ray's
Dinner: Crystal Palace (a first time)
Fireworks in park/OR from our room!
June 22: Park of the day: Animal Kingdom
Breakfast: Pizzafari's at AK (a first time)
Lunch: Flame Tree BBQ at AK
Dinner: Chef Mickey's
Later at night, on to room to watch fireworks from our room!
June 23: Park of the day: OPEN Day!
Breakfast: Chef Mickey's
Lunch: Will not need one after buffet /DGD Pirate Cruise
Dinner: Kona Cafe'
Later at night: Fireworls from room or in Magic Kingdom
June 24: Park of the Day: EPCOT
Breakfast: Contempo Cafe'
Lunch: Coral Reef
Dinner: Sunshine Seasons
Later on Illuminations
June 25: Park of the Day: Magic Kingdom
Breakfast: Ohana's Breakfast with Stitch
Lunch: Will not need one after big breakfast
Dinner: Cosmic Ray's/or Pecos Bill's
Later: Fireworks from our room!
June 26: Park of the Day: EPCOT
Breakfast: Chef Mickey's
Lunch: Will not need one after big breakfast
Dinner: Boulangiere Patissiere
Later: Illuminations
June 27: Park of the Day: Open Day/ or MK
Breakfast: Contemporary Cafe'
Lunch: Out of Pocket, still in progress on choices
Dinner: 1900 Park Fare (out of pocket)
Later: open for choices
June 28: Park of the Day: None unless we stop at Magic Kingdom for a bit!
Breakfast: Chef Mickey's
Check out of the Contemporary Resort and drive to Palm Beach for a 3
night stay at the Palm Beach Shores Resort and Vacation Villas
(booked through DVC with RCI/II using developer points so it is a
freebie stay in a 1 bedroom villa on the beach).
We have never been to the Palm Beach area, and grand daughter has never been to any beach at all so we can't wait to see her reaction the first time see sees the OCEAN!!!!! and walks on the beach, and builds her first sand castle.
On July 1st we check out of the resort and begin our long drive home. We will stop somewhere in upper Georgia or in Tennessee for the night and get home around lunchtime on July 2nd.
So the changes are now on paper and hopefully I won't regret giving up deluxe dining this trip as I had looked forward to it since hubby and I originally decided we wanted to try it once, but I think maybe we should really wait until it is just the two of us (she is a picky eater) and can go during a cooler time of year (say in 5 years when we (hopefully cand afford to) retire and can travel anytime we want!).
By the way...in case you wonder...I AM a real Gemini! (with little bits of some ADHD maybe?) Gave up Sea World this trip...we have AP's for Disney so we decided not to spend so much for a day at another park! More Disney for me woohoo!
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"My OTHER HOMES!
Last edited by disneygramma; 03-08-2009 at 07:01 PM..
2 words....OVER PLANNING.
I wish you the best..i hope you can pull it off.
.but if my wife had that itinerary....id go without here.
My hubby loves that I plan so well, we usually get most things in, and those that we don't, hey there is always next trip. We are going 2 more times this year and went in December too, so I don't worry too much about missing attractions in the park....we always have a great time no matter what!!!! Planning is good to do, and I don't think over planning is the problem with this trip as we will have had a total of 19 days to get in everything when all trips are added together. We want something special this trip...luxury, pampering, lots of new restaurants, relaxation...things we could not get if we were going commando on park attractions. By the way I do not force myself to stick so narrowly to itinerary (although we may have to on the TS restaurants, or call to cancel while there).
My hubby loves that I plan so well, we usually get most things in, and those that we don't, hey there is always next trip. We are going 2 more times this year and went in December too, so I don't worry too much about missing attractions in the park....we always have a great time no matter what!!!! Planning is good to do, and I don't think over planning is the problem with this trip as we will have had a total of 19 days to get in everything when all trips are added together. We want something special this trip...luxury, pampering, lots of new restaurants, relaxation...things we could not get if we were going commando on park attractions. By the way I do not force myself to stick so narrowly to itinerary (although we may have to on the TS restaurants, or call to cancel while there).
I hope you have a magical time.
Honestly, i DO plan, as I am the disney "nut" NOT my wife.
But, i only try to plan " what park which day or what order so my kids the the maximum amount of NEEDED rest. I.E, We always do AK BEFORE MK, cause AK closes earlier, hence a better night sleep for M.K.
So, yes i DO plan...
but i DO hope your trip goes well, i am VERY happy you are able to go as often as you do.
Its my hope that we can go every 2 -3 years, really for the rest of our lives.
I love it when i see folks in their 70-80's enjoying Disney. They actually may possible enjoy it MORE...due to enjoying the atmosphere and taking things a bit more slow.
Having kids has REALLY got me even more into Disney. Of course i even went when i was single all the way back to 1990.
Before that i went as a child '73'75'86.
But my folks got divorced when i was 8 so....that kinda dampeded the "magic".
I want to relive my childhood at Disney WITH my kids, and always give the the best life possible.
Your plans look great. I had dinner at The Wave in Jan, and enjoyed it. Narccoossee's is one of my favs. I would watch wishes there, as they pipe in the music.
Unsure why you are going 3 hrs south for a beach? Makes for a longer drive home. Unless there is a special reason why Palm Beach. I'd go to Cocoa Beach, or even one of the Gulf Coast Beaches. My dd's love Cocoa Beach, & is going to be a stop again for us before WDW, over night in August. They love Ron Jons surf shop. And they sign up for the surf lessons!
Have a great trip! Sounds like you are going to have a wonderful time!
Your plans look great. I had dinner at The Wave in Jan, and enjoyed it. Narccoossee's is one of my favs. I would watch wishes there, as they pipe in the music.
Unsure why you are going 3 hrs south for a beach? Makes for a longer drive home. Unless there is a special reason why Palm Beach. I'd go to Cocoa Beach, or even one of the Gulf Coast Beaches. My dd's love Cocoa Beach, & is going to be a stop again for us before WDW, over night in August. They love Ron Jons surf shop. And they sign up for the surf lessons!
Have a great trip! Sounds like you are going to have a wonderful time!
We are going to stay there cause we are using developer points and for our time frame that is the only beach resort that had opening. WE have been to cocoa beach before and Ron John's shop...its fun!
Good for you! Your plans look wonderful, & it shows you have put a lot
of thought into making a memorable vacation for your family! Enjoy your
vacation.
Your plans look great. I think I might consider spending part of your free day at Hollywood Studios, I know your grand daughters too young for much of it but she might enjoy Voyage of the Little Mermaid and maybe things like The Muppets.
We'll be there at the same time as you, perhaps we'll run into each other somewhere.
Your plans look great. I think I might consider spending part of your free day at Hollywood Studios, I know your grand daughters too young for much of it but she might enjoy Voyage of the Little Mermaid and maybe things like The Muppets.
We'll be there at the same time as you, perhaps we'll run into each other somewhere.
We've done DHS several times, including in December when we were there...she did DHS 2 days that trip and rode rockin roller coaster...we didn't get to Animal Kingdom that trip so gonna go there this time.
WE are thinking that on the free day, she might want to do the pirate cruise from the Grand Floridian...gonna check with her on this as she is a huge POTC fan
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