went ahead and booked first ever trip! yipee - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I finally took the plunge after months of trying to decide if we should even go to WDW since kids will be 14 and 11, none of us have ever been, it's alot of money, will it be worth it, what days should I pick, will I be thrown in the slammer for having kids miss school? yada yada
We are not booked for a long long time, as in Nov 12-19 2011. I felt kind of stupid even booking this far in advance but I've had sort of a depressing month and wanted something exciting to do. Plus..as I've mentioned in my previous posts,my husband is being unwillingly dragged to Disney so since he's completely clueless how it even works. I figured if I booked and put down the deposit he'd sort of have to accept it and for all he knows, we can't cancel. I'll let him stay in the dark
So...it's done. We will be staying at the Poly from Nov 12-19th and I intend on being on that plane flying home to TX before the swarms for Thanksgiving come in! Went ahead and did 8 days tix w/ hopper and waterparks. No dining plan though for a few reasons but mainly because my "adult priced" kids eat like birds and will be smitten w/ chicken nuggets the whole trip so it may be best for us to do mostly counter service with a few table ones tossed in, maybe every other day.
My kids are clueless, husband is clueless, I would be clueless except for the fact that I think my obsessive planner was hidden and has been unleashed because I've devoured the guide books and these forums and think I'm prepared to amaze the family w/ my plans I cannot even describe how utterly uninterested my husband is. I told him for the last 3 years that I really wanted to take kids to WDW before they were too cool to be seen with us. He said "not a chance, why spend a fortune at an amusement park, waste of money, kids don't even like cartoon characters anymore....." Finally, one day he fell for my womanly charms and said "ok, whatever you want to do but we're only going once so make sure you do it right" I forced him to watch the DVD and he said he wanted to stay at the Poly and pig out at the Luau one night. That's it, end of story. No more decision making necessary. (sheesh, little does he know how many more decisions I must make!) I showed him the prices but he was fine with it (granted he was drinking at this point). That's been the extent of his input...watching 2 minutes of the DVD (just resort choosing portion) and giving me the approval to spend the money (he wasn't THAT drunk) So...off we go. Well....it's forever away but still, it's on the books now. yipee!
p.s. weirdest thing..I don't know how many people they have answering that Disney hotline to book packages but I have called 3x total in the last year and I swear I've got the same guy every time.
Congrats on booking your first trip. You now have lots of time to plan and their are lots of people here that can answer most any question you may have.
Great post! I laughed out loud at the drinking and womanly charms parts. You have to do what you have to do, and you will LOVE the Poly and Disney! Have fun planning! It's a labor (can you say spreadsheet?) of love!
If you want some ideas or advice, you know where to come. I just booked an Epcot Illuminations Cruise for one night (our trip is in Oct.), for example, which is one of many thoughts. Good for older kids, I'd say.
Congrats!!
I know it seems like forever away, but planning is half the fun!
You never know - your husband may very well leave WDW a true fan.
My dad remarried when I was in my early twenties and his wife loved WDW. He agreed to go once and told her "enjoy it because this is the only time we are going!" and then they proceeded to go nearly every year for the next ten years. He loves it! Unfortunately, he had a massive stroke in April 2009 and his WDW days are over but just wanted to share how someone completely unwilling may end up having a wonderful time and loving it as much as you.
YEAH!!!!!! thats great but be careful now that he is going he may want to go again and you are spoiling yourselves with the poly!! lol my husband always regrets staying in a one bedroom villa because you can NEVER go back to a studio!!!! hahaha
happy planning!!!!
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I cannot even describe how utterly uninterested my husband is. I told him for the last 3 years that I really wanted to take kids to WDW before they were too cool to be seen with us. He said "not a chance, why spend a fortune at an amusement park, waste of money, kids don't even like cartoon characters anymore....." Finally, one day he fell for my womanly charms and said "ok, whatever you want to do but we're only going once so make sure you do it right" I forced him to watch the DVD and he said he wanted to stay at the Poly and pig out at the Luau one night. That's it, end of story. No more decision making necessary. (sheesh, little does he know how many more decisions I must make!) I showed him the prices but he was fine with it (granted he was drinking at this point). That's been the extent of his input...watching 2 minutes of the DVD (just resort choosing portion) and giving me the approval to spend the money (he wasn't THAT drunk
) So...off we go. Well....it's forever away but still, it's on the books now. yipee!
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