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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The Backstory:
This past week Mark and I took the kids on a surprise trip to Disney World. The idea started after Mark got home from a business trip about 6 months ago. He had gone to Orlando and stayed at the Hyatt in the airport. Overnight, the fire alarm went off and in the morning, the hotel gave him a free voucher for a one night's stay. The catch? He had to stay at THAT particular Hyatt within one year of the issue date. Of course that started the wheels turning for a short trip to Disney, because we just couldn't let that voucher go to waste and we couldn't very well go to Orlando without going to Disney World!
We decided on the week of November 7-11, because we figured that by leaving on Monday late afternoon, and because the kids had the 11th (Veteran's Day) off from school, they'd only miss 3 days of school. When we go to Disney, we typically stay at the Dolphin or the Swan, since they're both owned by Sheraton (even though they are on Disney property - near the Boardwalk) and Mark has Sheraton points from work travel, so we can stay for free (or nearly free) most times. So that was our first plan. Unfortunately, though, for whatever reason, there were no available rooms for the dates we wanted, so we had to look at other options. Since we wanted this trip to be as economical as possible, we chose one of the moderately priced resorts - the Caribbean Beach Resort - on Disney property.
We also decided that because we already had another trip in the works for October 2012 with Mark's parents, that we'd invest in an Annual Park Pass for admission to the parks. It's more expensive, obviously, than a regular 10 day pass, but since we were going twice in one year, it made sense to make the investment for the long run.
The decision to make the trip a surprise for the kids was an easy one. I think we've all seen those Disney commercials on TV with real video of parents surprising their kids with trips, and I know they've made me weepy, not to mention that we've had several friends and family members surprise their kids, so we knew it was something we wanted to try. However, those of you that know me know first hand how incredibly HARD it was to keep a secret! Thank God the kids are young enough that they were oblivious to the inevitable slipups that occurred!
The Reveal (November 7th)
Fast forward to the "reveal." The week before, I sent notes to school with the kids to tell the teachers that they'd be absent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with "strict" instructions to keep it a surprise. Luckily, Jillian can't read and I wrote Matt's in cursive, so I was able to get by with a little "white lie" to the kids as to why I was writing notes. I did all the packing while they were at school during the day and picked up little things like travel sized toiletries and stroller bags and clothes a little at a time.
Mark worked a half-day, I did some last-minute packing, drove Bailey to the boarder's and we picked the kids up from school at around 2:00. They didn't even know they were being dismissed early, so even that was a surprise. We had all the bags packed and in the trunk of the minivan ready to go, so when we got to car, we told the kids that since Daddy had the afternoon off, we figured we'd do something special.
Matt was in complete shock, I think, and his reaction was kind of dazed. LOL Jill absolutely FREAKED. It was classic. From school, we stopped at home quickly to have the kids change out of their uniforms and left for the airport! Our flight left at 5:00. I had packed each kiddo a backpack full of activities, movies and games for the flight, and they were very excited.
We had a quick layover in Baltimore, where we ate at an "old-fashioned" diner in the airport with "real" jukeboxes on the tables. The kids got a big kick out of that. Then we boarded our second flight. The only notable thing about the flights was that on the second leg, the kid in front of us threw up. Lovely. Luckily our kids didn't even notice.
We arrived in Orlando at around 10:00 that night, and then it was just a quick walk across the airport to the Hyatt for our free stay. It worked out well because the kids were exhausted from the flight and all the excitement.
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November 8th
The next morning (Tuesday) we woke up bright and early and headed down to the queue for the Magical Express (the free shuttle that takes you from the airport directly to your resort at Disney World). Since we were so early, we had the whole bus to ourselves! The kids were beyond excited and every so often over the course of the trip would shout out of no where, "We're at to Disney World!!" The best part of the Magical Express and staying "on property" is that they take your bags and drop them off to your room for you, so after a quick check in and visit to our room (with a pirate theme that Matt was thrilled about), we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom!
Our first stop in MK was for a Mickey ice cream bar, and our first ride of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean, a family tradition. Jillian is tall enough this year (40" exactly), so she was able to ride most of the rides at the parks, so with a little bit of coaxing, we got her on Splash Mountain. She liked "everything except for the big hills," but refused to go back on for the rest of the trip. We had our traditional hotdogs from Casey's Corner on Main Street for lunch. And the nice thing about going to Disney the week we did was that they were in the process of transitioning from Halloween to Christmas, and the parks were not crowded at all. In fact, we got right in for a visit with Mickey and Minnie with not even a 5 minute wait!
After spending a few hours at Magic Kingdom, we headed to Epcot via the Monorail for our reservations in Canada's restaurant, Le Cellier. Before dinner we were able to get on a few rides like Finding Nemo and what Jill calls the "Golf ball ride" a.k.a. Spaceship Earth (which, for some reason, Jillian LOVES and for equally strange reasons, Matthew HATES). We stayed until the park closed that night to watch IllumiNations from a table in Great Britain (thanks to a really nice family, who offered us their table as they were leaving).
Scariest thing that happened on vacation? Tuesday night around 11:30 Matt got up, sleep-walking, in his underpants, and tried to open the hotel room door because he thought it was the bathroom. :-O Thank God the door was heavy and that Mark and I are fairly light sleepers, otherwise he would have been locked outside in the middle of the night. For the rest of the week we barricaded the door and dead-bolted it just in case.
November 9th
Wednesday morning we went to Animal Kingdom. Again, the crowds were low, the weather was perfect and we were able to get right on most of the rides! Mark took Matt on Expedition Everest, a roller coaster he loved last year, but this year for whatever reason, the yeti theme freaked him out and he refused to ride again with me. When Matt gets nervous about something, he obsesses about it, so for the rest of the day all he wanted to talk about was the yeti. We made up silly stories about the shy yeti on the mountain who just wanted to make friends by giving out snow cones to take his focus away from the scary aspects of the ride.
Also, we had promised Jill she could get her face painted (she chose a butterfly design), and Matt insisted on a yeti on his face, even though that wasn't listed on the board as an option. Luckily, the guy painting faces was really nice and said he could improvise... and improvise he did! The "yeti" he painted on Matt's face was spectacular!
The jungle safari was Jillian's favorite and we got lucky since most of the animals were out and about! I think that's the most animals I've ever seen on that ride by far!
After a visit to the petting zoo where Jill got to pat her favorite animal - the pig - and we took pictures of Grandpa's favorite animal - the cow - we went back to the hotel for an afternoon relaxing by the pool for me - I forgot my bathing suit! - and going for a swim. We then went back to the room to shower and get ready for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. For an additional fee, you can buy tickets to the party and the park is open to just the people who have special wrist bands from 7:00 PM to midnight. They also have games for the kids, a special parade, fireworks and free hot chocolate and cookies.
But I think their favorite part of the night was having their pictures taken with Phineas and Ferb, their favorite Disney cartoon characters. Matt's grin was priceless.
Needless to say, they were absolutely exhausted by the end of the night. Jill was a little weepy because she had to do a lot of waiting around while we took Matt on the "big kid" rides like Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain, so we let her pick the last three rides - Small World, the Carousel and the Dumbo ride. Jill rode on Mark's shoulders for the walk back to the bus, while Matt passed out cold in the stroller.
On the bus, both Matt and Jill fell fast asleep. Mark was standing with the stroller, so when the bus stopped at our stop, he got off with the stroller while I tried - very unsuccessfully - to wake Matt since I couldn't carry him and Jill at the same time. I even resorted to shaking him and slapping his cheeks (gently, I promise) but the kid just wouldn't wake up! I moved a bit to pick Jill up and he feel over on the seat, right on his face and just kept sleeping. Everyone around us was very amused. LOL. Mark came back on the bus and picked Matt up and we carried two very sleepy kiddos back to the room.
November 10th
Thursday morning we let them sleep in and took a bus over to Hollywood Studios to have a leisurely walk to the Boardwalk area for breakfast at our favorite little pastry shop, called the Boardwalk Bakery. We then walked over to Epcot to catch the rides we didn't have a chance to do on Tuesday. Again, since Jillian is now 40", she was able to get on my personal favorite, Soarin, and Test Track. Jillian loved Test Track so much that we rode twice in a row. I'll never forget her fist pump while yelling, "TEST TRACK RULES!"
Oh, and we had Perry the Platypus with us that day because we were planning on going to Hollywood Studios that night, where Phineas and Ferb had a meet and greet, so Perry got to come on all of the rides with us that day as well. I don't know how many times over the course of the trip that someone came up to us asking where we got him (at home at the Disney Store a few months prior), or yelling "Perry!" as they walked by! It was hilarious!
Later that afternoon, we walked from Epcot, through the Boardwalk, to Hollywood Studios. Mark wanted to ride the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, so we headed over there to get a Fast Pass. Much to our surprise, Matt walked over to the measuring stick thingy and he was just tall enough to ride! He must have had a sudden growth spurt in the weeks leading up to the trip because he was definitely not tall enough when we measured him before! The cast member at the entrance of the line was amazing! She saw that Matt was so excited to be tall enough, and instead of making him and Mark wait in the 30 minute line, or wait until later to return with a regular Fast Pass, she gave Mark and I each a special Fast Pass to ride immediately, so that he could take Matt on right that minute - bypassing the lines completely - and then I could do the same with Matt as soon as they got off, if he really liked it.
When they came off the ride, though, Matt was in tears. The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster goes completely upside down - in the dark - in big spirals and loops. Mark said that Matt was terrified. Poor kid! We felt awful, even though we fully explained to him before he went on what to expect. Mark and I decided that I'd ride alone and I started walking towards the line with my Fast Pass. Matt - still with tears streaming down his face - ran up to me and said he wanted to go on again! I was shocked! I must have asked him 20 times if he was sure he still wanted to ride, but he insisted! Later he told me he went back on because he didn't want me to have to ride alone. I love that little boy!
The thing that cracked me up, though, was that he ran up to the measuring stick again, took off his shoes (he was obviously too short without them on) and said, "oh well, I guess I can't ride, I'm too short," but the cast member (not the same one from before) told him that they measure with shoes on and he was fine to ride if he wanted to. He insisted he did want to and so we walked back onto the ride. He almost backed out again when we got to the front, and I totally would have walked off the ride with him, but after thinking about it for a minute, he changed his mind and got on. I held his hand the entire time and when it was over, he was grinning ear to ear. He loved it the second time around and if you ask him what his favorite ride is now, he'll tell you it's the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. So proud of my little man for being so brave and facing his fears!
The whole reason we decided on Hollywood Studios that night was to see The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights and to visit with Phineas and Ferb again. It started at 6:00 and continued every 20 minutes or so until park closing at 8:00, but since we got sidetracked with our little Rockin' Roller Coaster adventure, we missed the first show, so we went to see Muppet Vision 3D show first, were lucky enough to be the last ones allowed in line to visit with Phineas and Ferb, who, of course, loved that Matt brought Perry and got a bunch of hilarious pictures (PhotoPass link below), then headed over and caught the last light show. I really expected the kids to love it, but they were surprisingly underwhelmed. By that time, the park was about to close and the kids were hungry and tired, so we headed back to the hotel where we got a (very) late dinner and put the kids to bed.
November 11th
Friday we got up very early, since it was leaving day and the hotel staff was coming at 7:00 to pick up our luggage and take us to check out and say goodbye to our luggage (the Magical Express weighs and checks your luggage for you so that you don't have to do it at the airport! Very nice service when you have kids!). After the check-out process was complete, we headed to the Beach Club Resort for a character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe with Donald, Goofy and Minnie. The kids had a great time and got a kick out of it when Minnie "told" them that Mickey wasn't there because he was out playing golf.
After breakfast, we headed back to Magic Kingdom for one last visit. The first thing we did when we arrived was get in line to visit the princesses - Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. Jillian, of course, was beyond excited to see the princesses and have her picture taken, but Matt, not so much. He said he would absolutely NOT go and have his picture taken, but when the time came, he went "just for Jillian." I'm so glad he did because the pictures they took were hilarious (PhotoPass link in OP and below). There was one picture (my favorite) of Belle kissing Matt on the cheek and Matt looks all embarrassed. He also bragged to Aurora all about how he went on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (twice!) and loved it.
We let Jill pick the last rides since she had to do a lot of waiting around for Matt the past week, and she chose Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then Mark and Matt went on Thunder Mountain one last time and we got some lunch and did some shopping. It was Veteran's Day and the park was MOBBED, so we decided to cut our losses and return to the hotel to get ready to leave.
It was a good thing we did, too, because after a quick snack at the hotel, we literally ran over to the Custom House, collected our carry-on bags and hopped on the Magical Express bus with minutes to spare. From there it was a quick 20 minute ride to the airport. Once there, Mark started to get a little concerned because he couldn't find our car keys in our carry-on bags. He couldn't remember what he did with them, and couldn't remember seeing them since we left Manchester. All we could do was hope that they were in our luggage, which we wouldn't see until we got back to New Hampshire at 10:00 that night.
The kids did great on the flight - Jill even slept through the landing - and we arrived on time back in Manchester at around 9:30. We immediately headed to the baggage claim and prayed that we'd find the keys. Well, guess what? After sorting through dirty laundry, souvenirs and toiletries - no keys. We still have no idea what happened to them. We called the both airports, both airlines and both hotels we stayed at and no one has found them. Mark called his dad, who stopped by our house and got our spare set, and drove up to the airport so we could get home. The poor kids were exhausted but were very patient and made the best of a bad situation by watching TV on our iPhones, playing I Spy and eating donuts from Dunkies. Finally, after an hour and half waiting at the airport, Mark's dad (our hero) arrived with our keys and we took two very tired kiddos home and tucked them into their own beds, then collapsed into ours.
It was an amazingly fun, crazy, eventful whirlwind of a trip and I loved every minute of it (with the exception of the lost keys, of course). If you ask both kids what their favorite part of the trip was, they'll tell you it was the surprise! That was my favorite part, too.
Links to the photos and video of the trip can be found in the original post, or in my next post.
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