The Princesses and the Dad: A Pre-Trip Report! UPDATED 4/15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The Princesses and the Dad: A Pre-Trip Report! UPDATED 4/15
If you haven't read about the "big news" for the Norris clan, click HERE to catch up on the news!
Once Bethany and I found out about the new baby, we went through a whirlwind of emotions. Our first emotion was distress. We did not plan to have any more children and had taken steps to insure it would not be the case. After lots of worry, conversations, and discussions, we eventually got to acceptance and even anticipation. Basically here's a summary of the emotions: Yep. That's about it.
One fear that we both had was that having two children only 2 years a part would have an adverse affect on Allie and Lindsay. Those two girls (Allie will be 11 in April while Lindsay will be 7 on January 18th) are wonderful kids who have not complained once about all the attention that Audrey gets and demands. Audrey is not the easiest baby to raise. While Allie and Lindsay were pretty calm and easy to handle, Audrey expects a lot of attention and monopolizes time with Bethany. Despite all this, all three girls have a great relationship. Audrey loves her big sisters and they return the favor. Audrey looks at Allie as almost a 2nd mother while she views Lindsay as the hysterical kid who makes her laugh and giggle.
With another baby coming, life would be tough but we didn't want to force Allie and Lindsay to sacrifice things because of our family expanding. Bethany suggested to me that we need to do things with both of them before and after the pregnancy to make sure the girls know they are special. She even suggested that they especially needed time alone with their Daddy. After a few days of discussion, Bethany and I decided that I would take the girls on a trip to Disney. We would share this news with them on Christmas!
So on Christmas morning, the girls got up early and opened their gifts. They were so happy with their "loot" that I decided not to share with them their biggest gift until later. Later that afternoon after all family had been seen, the three of us were outside on our porch. I then told them that if there was one thing that I wish we had more of, it was time alone. They agreed. Then I told them that we should do something about that. They agreed again! At this point I said "The three of us are going to Disney together and you guys can plan the entire trip!" At this point much hooping and hollering occurred and I'm sure the girls were happy too.
So to wrap it up, the cast of characters will be:
Allie (Age 11)
Lindsay (Age 7)
Me ( LOL I love this pic. I look so contemplative haha)
Wowza... I'm so happy for you guys! Congratulations on the new baby and the anticipation of a special trip with your princesses. It will be wonderful and I can't wait to hear about it!
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I love the way you told the girls! Priceless! I can't wait to hear all their plans. I really do admire how well you take care of all your girls! But I'm still sending for a future Norris bouncing baby boy!
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Yep. That's about it.
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Pixie Dust
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
Katie's graduation
My water works are flowing!!! 
Oh you guys! I'm so happy for you I'm jumping for joy(and the animals are wondering WTH is going on??) 
Aimee
PassPorter Guide Author
for a future Norris bouncing baby boy!
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