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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, here is a rough sketch of our itinerary. We are heading to WDW in Sept for 11 nights, staying at the new Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. It is just DH and myself. We visited WDW in May 04, and are going back again for a cruise and WDW stay in May 05, so this extended trip is meant to involve a decent amount of relaxation/leisure time and not be too scheduled (I, like many of you, am normally a planning freak, but we're really trying to keep this trip more low-key).
Another reason to keep this trip fairly unscheduled is because upon returning home from our May 05 trip, we plan on trying to start a family. Therefore, DH and I realize that our future trips to WDW will be a little more chaotic and won't revolve around just what he and I want to do (basically we know we should enjoy our selfish time while we have it, lol) Our future trips to WDW (and there will be many, yay!) will probably be with kids in tow.
Also, we've tried to space out our PS arrangements. I am not a big eater, and especially not when it's hot. So anytime we have a PS for a nice meal, then the rest of the day we just snack and/or share a single counter service meal. There are a couple days where we have no PS's. On these days we'll probably just do snacks/counter service. If we decide we feel up to it, though, we may just do a walk-in or call that morning for a PS somewhere. In Sept, that's normally not a problem.
Also, Epcot is our favorite park, so we've allotted the most time there. And don't laugh when you see "nap time" written down. Yes, I'm only in my twenties, but I love my naps! Especially in WDW where it's easy to get worn out fast (at least I do!) I feel so much better in the evenings when I have some time to rest up during the day.
And the time we have for relaxation is always subject to change if we get caught up in something. However the leisure time will most likely include any of the following: swimming in the resort pool/exploring our resort/shopping/napping/water park time/ESPN Zone for buffalo wings/getting ice cream/running to nearby store for necessities/calling home to check on our puppy/organizing digital pictures/basically whatever!
In any case, here's our rough draft of what we're planning to do. I'm sure we'll revise it many, many times before we actually leave, but that's half the fun, isn't it?
Please tell me what you think and let me know if you have any suggestions!
Day One (A Monday)
Arrive at WDW at 1 or 2 p.m. after our long road trip.
Check-in at our resort.
Either have a meal in DD at Earl of Sandwich (best sandwiches ever!) or
Go to Epcot, have a meal at Sunshine Season Food Faire in The Land.
View any attractions we feel like in Epcot
If our room was not ready when we checked-in, go back to resort to unpack.
View Illuminations if we feel up to it. If too tired from the road trip down, then go to resort and rest up for our first full day.
Day Two (Tuesday)
PS at Crystal Palace for Breakfast @ 8:30 a.m.
Enjoy Magic Kingdom for as long as desired. If done by afternoon, head back to resort for swimming/relaxation time.
If we didn't see Illuminations yesterday, go to Epcot tonight to see it.
If we're not too exhausted, head over to Downtown Disney.
Day Three (Wednesday)
Sleep in, have a leisurely morning, perhaps swim in resort pool or explore the resort. Shop in resort gift shop.
Head to MGM when we feel like it.
PS for Mama Melrose's dinner @ 5:00 p.m.
Evening is open for whatever
Maybe see Wishes Fireworks followed by Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island/DisneyQuest or whatever
Day Four (Thursday)
Animal Kingdom in the morning
Epcot in the afternoon
The rest of the day is open for whatever.
No PS's this day.
Day Five (Friday)
Have a leisurely morning.
When the day heats up, head to Typhoon Lagoon water park.
After water park, go to resort to clean up and relax/nap.
Head to Epcot in the afternoon sometime.
PS at Chefs de France for dinner @ 6:30 p.m.
Do whatever in the evening.
Day Six (Saturday)
Being that this is a Saturday and the park is normally a bit more crowded, we will likely use this as a "non-park" day.
Do horseback riding
Rent water mice speedboats
Lounge by the pool
Resort hop (we like to go and just look at the resorts we haven't stayed at before, see what they're like. Does anyone else do this?)
No PS's this day
Day Seven (Sunday)
Shop at Downtown Disney
Leisure time
Visit a park if we feel like it
Relax in room/nap
PS at Artist Point for dinner @ 7:00 p.m.
Possible DisneyQuest
Day Eight (Monday)
Epcot in the a.m. or for most of the day
Dinner at Big River Grille (Boardwalk area)
Possible ice cream at Ghiradelli in DD this evening
Day Nine (Tuesday)
We may use this day for Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. We've never been to these parks (didn't really have the desire and/or time to go before) and I don't care for many thrill rides. However in doing some research there are a fair amount of attractions I could handle, and DH said he doesn't mind going on the more thrilling ones by himself. So, if we feel up to it, we may give it a try. If not, we'll visit whatever park we feel like visiting.
Day Ten (Wednesday)
Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom in the a.m.
Blizzard Beach water park or resort pool in the afternoon.
Head to Epcot
PS at Restaurant Marrakesh for dinner @ 6:00 p.m.
Day 11 (Thursday)
Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom in a.m.
Leisure time/swimming, etc
Shopping time
PS at 1900 Park Fare for dinner @ 6:40 p.m.
Day 12 (Friday)
Last day
Visit Epcot and do anything else we want
Start heading for home around lunch or dinner time, whenever we feel like it
Start planning next trip!!
Wow that sounds nice and relaxing!! The only thing I would add is that you should do any of the adventurous rides (TOT, RNR roller coaster, etc) while on this trip or your May trip. Otherwise the next time you come you'll either be pregnant and unable to ride those, or have to take turns watching the little one while the other one rides. Have a great trip!
Stephanie
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