Gifts of a Lifetime :) - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > PassPorter's Walt Disney World Resort (Florida) > Making More Magic: Everything Else at Walt Disney World!
Register


Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.

To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.

If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-30-2014, 09:59 PM   #1
Goofy'sGal
Community Rank: Jetsetter
 
Goofy'sGal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Colonia, NJ
Concierge Level: 2
Posts: 2,517

Post Thanks / Like
Gifts of a Lifetime :)

Just wanted to put in a good worth for Jane and her pixies at Gifts of a Lifetime (| Making your gift an event to remember!). Many years ago when I was planning our first family trip and my daughters were only 5 and 2, I came across information about these pixie events on the AllEars site. I vowed that some day I would plan an event with them. Well, my oldest daughter is turning Sweet 16 next week and we were in the World last week. She didn't want a big crazy Sweet 16 Party (thank goodness! LOL) and she is a HUGE Disney fan (like me!) - she'd love to work for them some day. What better way to celebrate her bdy in WDW then with a Pixie Event?

I contacted Jane who came up with a great treasure hunt themed to her favorite movie (Frozen). I only told the adults in our party - my two daughters and our 8 year old cousin had no idea what was going to happen. We led our group to the starting point (I'm leaving out all details in case one of you decides to plan an event, sorry) which was out of the way so we had to do some smooth talking. When we got there, my daughter turned around and saw her name on a scroll with instructions. I think her hands were shaking! LOL She kept wondering how this had happened! I told her those Magic Bands know everything about us nowadays

Jane and her pixies are amazing. Jane met up with me to pick up the birthday gift that would be at the end of the hunt. She gave me some advice on what to do before we began our hunt. I was worried that an unscheduled but very necessary restroom break would interfere with her plan, but she kept telling me to enjoy the hunt, take our time and have fun (and no, we wouldn't be penalized for the potty breaks LOL). At one point we couldn't find our next clue; a quick secret text to Jane and she pointed me in the right direction. The kids (and adults) and of course, my daughter most of all, were all thrilled with our event.

I'll have another Sweet 16 to plan in a few years so I'm hoping we'll be able to have Jane make some more magic for my family. I heartily recommend them!
__________________
Val

My Countdown Counting down to: Easter 2018 Flower and Garden Festival AKLV
Happy Easter from WDW
My Previous Trips1972, 1985, 1991 - offsite;May 2003 - DD's 5th Bdy/1st Family Trip - VWL; July 2003 - Brand New DVC Members - BCV; Nov 2004 - DD's 4th Bdy/1st Trip Home - BCV; May 2005 - A Little Family Magic - VWL; March 2006 - Spring Fling - VWL; Nov 2006 - DD's 6th Bdy/1st MVMCP - VWL; April 2007 - My bdy/Easter/DN's 1st WDW trip - BCV; March 2008 Easter - SSR; Jan 2009 - VWL; April 2009 Easter - AKV; April 2010 Easter - AKV/BCV; April 2011 Easter - Treehouse Villas; April 2012 Easter - Kidani; March Easter 2013 - VWL/BCV; April 2014 Easter - Treehouse Villas; April 2015 Easter - Kidani Village; March 2016 Easter WVL/BCV; June 2016 1st trip DL/DCA -Paradise Pier; April 2017 Easter SSR/THV; March 2018 Easter with the Whole Family AKLV; Sept 2018 DDs DCP Move-In SSR
Goofy'sGal is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 01:41 AM   #2
chezp
PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author

Community Rank:
Legend VIP
 
chezp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285

Post Thanks / Like
It sounds like an absolutely wonderful celebration!
__________________

Relaxing on board the Magic. The trip report for our back-to-back cruises on the Disney Magic has started!
My Countdown Counting down to: 2019
Happy New Year!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous Trips21 trips to WDW, 6 to Disneyland in California, 9 to Disneyland Paris, 1 to Hong Kong Disneyland, 1 to Tokyo Disney, 1 to Aulani, 1 to Hilton Head, 2 to Vero Beach and 13 Disney cruises on the Magic, Wonder, Dream and Fantasy
chezp is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 04:29 AM   #3
Thomhazel
Community Rank: Globetrotter
 
Thomhazel's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 3,288

Post Thanks / Like
Totally agree she organised the most wonderful treasure hunt for my daughters graduation last year. Her services are well worth the money
__________________
Scottish Hogmanay (with a stolen Picture)

My Countdown Counting down to: WDW, Disney Dream and Universal
Chillin at disney
Thomhazel is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 09:51 AM   #4
MissNDisney
Community Rank: Wayfarer
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 100

Post Thanks / Like
We'll be celebrating my daughter's 8th grade graduation, I am going to look into this!! Thanks for the tip!
__________________
Margaret

May 1996 All Star Sports May 2000 Dixie Landings Dec 2001 Caribbean Beach - Barbados June 2002 Caribbean Beach - Aruba March 2003 Paradise Pier - Disneyland Aug 2011 Sheraton Vistana Aug 2014 Animal Kingdom Lodge (Yay!!)
MissNDisney is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 09:53 AM   #5
disneydeva
Community Rank: Trekker
 
disneydeva's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Morrisville, VT
Posts: 1,039

Post Thanks / Like
Wow that sounds so cool. We will be in the world in June for my daughters sweet 16. Do you mind if I ask what something like that goes for?
__________________
DisneyDeva
1989+1993 Carribbean Beach,1996 ASS+Dixie Landings,1998 DL,2000 CB Hurricaine Floyd!!,2001 DL,2003 CS,2004 WL,2005 POR,2006 seven night eastern carb. disney cruise!!!,2006 Halloween Liki Tiki,May 2007 off site Orange Lake,May 2007 AKL,Sept 2007 CS,Oct 2008 Halloween ASM,May 2009 PC+ a seven night eastern carb. cruise,Feb 2010 GCV,BCV + BLT Sept 2011; OKW 8/12;Kindani 9/13: POR 3/13; Jambo Club Level & SS 6/14; Poly studio 8/15, GF villa July 2016;Blt + AKK June 2018
disneydeva is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2014, 12:03 AM   #6
Goofy'sGal
Community Rank: Jetsetter
 
Goofy'sGal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Colonia, NJ
Concierge Level: 2
Posts: 2,517

Post Thanks / Like
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydeva View Post
Wow that sounds so cool. We will be in the world in June for my daughters sweet 16. Do you mind if I ask what something like that goes for?
Hello disneydeva - our event was $295 (plus the final gift which I provided - a Frozen-themed necklace that I bought on Etsy for $20). I knew the events were pricey and her website mentions "budget events"; however, our event was planned for Easter week and she could not do a budget event. I think this was one of the less expensive options. After I read about what she planned, I decided it was worth the expense. We had so much fun and it was really well planned. I cannot imagine what a higher priced event would be like (but I do wonder! Wish my DH would take the hint, maybe for a wedding anniversary??? Too bad he doesn't read the PP Boards LOL)
__________________
Val

My Countdown Counting down to: Easter 2018 Flower and Garden Festival AKLV
Happy Easter from WDW
My Previous Trips1972, 1985, 1991 - offsite;May 2003 - DD's 5th Bdy/1st Family Trip - VWL; July 2003 - Brand New DVC Members - BCV; Nov 2004 - DD's 4th Bdy/1st Trip Home - BCV; May 2005 - A Little Family Magic - VWL; March 2006 - Spring Fling - VWL; Nov 2006 - DD's 6th Bdy/1st MVMCP - VWL; April 2007 - My bdy/Easter/DN's 1st WDW trip - BCV; March 2008 Easter - SSR; Jan 2009 - VWL; April 2009 Easter - AKV; April 2010 Easter - AKV/BCV; April 2011 Easter - Treehouse Villas; April 2012 Easter - Kidani; March Easter 2013 - VWL/BCV; April 2014 Easter - Treehouse Villas; April 2015 Easter - Kidani Village; March 2016 Easter WVL/BCV; June 2016 1st trip DL/DCA -Paradise Pier; April 2017 Easter SSR/THV; March 2018 Easter with the Whole Family AKLV; Sept 2018 DDs DCP Move-In SSR
Goofy'sGal is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 02:40 PM   #7
KMB733
PassPorter Guide

Community Rank:
Legend Extraordinaire
 
KMB733's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162

Post Thanks / Like
Sounds like a wonderful celebration!!
__________________
Kathy
PassPorter Co-Guide for: Making More Magic
My Countdown Counting down to: Christmas
Merry Christmas
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979, WDW 1985, WDW 1987, WDW Oct 2003, WDW March 2004, WDW Oct 2004, WDW Sept 2005--Pop Century , WDW Nov 2006--Pop Century, WDW Jan 2007--Pop Century, WDW Nov/Dec 2009--Pop Century, DLR Oct 2011, WDW Dec 2014
KMB733 is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-10-2014, 08:50 AM   #8
dutchdisneyfamily
Community Rank: Explorer
 
dutchdisneyfamily's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Illinois
Concierge Level: 8
Posts: 9,092

Post Thanks / Like
What a wonderful, creative gift!
__________________
My Countdown Counting down to: Disney World!
We are here!
My Previous TripsWDW Nov. 1988, DL Dec. 2006, WDW June 2010, WDW June 2013, WDW November 2015, WDW June 2016, August 2016, WDW June 2017
dutchdisneyfamily is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2014, 01:00 AM   #9
ShatteredByLoss
Community Rank: Passenger
 
ShatteredByLoss's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Cajun Coast, Louisiana, USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 27

Post Thanks / Like
Hello All,

I have to chime in here.

Though I didn't get to meet Jane because I lost my wallet and was running around trying to find it (insert panic mode here ) that day. We did get the room decorated for my mother in a 'hundred acre wood' theme.

Jane went above and beyond and even made my mom a reece (yeah, like reece cup's you buy at the store!) cake just like we had talked about. I didn't think it was possible, but she made it happen. It was amazing.

There were balloons, streamers, candy, toys and more. It was unbelievable. It was literally like walking into a fantasyland.

How she did it in the time allotted, how she managed to transform a hotel room into something beyond was amazing.

Well worth the cost (which wasn't bad at all).

Well worth the tears of happiness that my Mom had that day.

Talking about this room still brings a glimmer to her eye and a smile to her lips.

All because of Jane.

Thank you Jane.
ShatteredByLoss is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump














Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:43 AM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger