There’ll Be a Smile Where a Frown Used to Be - PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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There’ll Be a Smile Where a Frown Used to Be - PTR
My PTR title is from the song, Someone is Waiting for You, from the Rescuers. The reason I chose this will be apparent as I go on. But for now, here are the basics…..
When: September 20 to September 27, 2012. September would not be my first choice because it will still be so doggone hot, but it’s the best we could do. We’ve been during the summer and, although we had a blast, we’d rather not go at that time of year again. We also want to avoid any holidays, school vacations and special events. We’re pretty crowd adverse.
Where: Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. In January we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and just loved it. The CMs there were incredibly good to us. I was really sick for the majority of our trip and they could not have been nicer. My husband loved the ambience, the location and the amenities. He said he’d never stay anywhere else. We chose a 1 bedroom villa because we’re bringing our 12 year old nephew and want a bit more room. I tried to talk my husband into a 1 bedroom at AKL so that I could have my own bathroom, but he didn’t want to give up his boat transportation. Since he rarely asks for anything how could I ask him to forego his boats?
Who: My husband Steve. I’ll list him first since he pays for our vacations, well he pays for everything really and never complains. He’s my very best friend and I love spending time with him. We’ve been very happily married for 25 years. He will not admit to being a Disney-fanatic but he can't fool me! We have annual passports to Disneyland and we go as often as we can – sometimes twice in a week! He pretends he's doing it for me. This will be his 5th WDW trip.
Me – Ginny Mouse. I have always been in love with Mickey Mouse. When I was little I wanted my name to be Annette or Sharon or Darlene or even Cubby. I was so sad that I didn’t have a Mouseketeer name. If you read my previous PTR (I never finished it or my TR, more on that later) you know I’ve had several health crises in recent history but I’m glad to say I’m on the mend and hoping to stay that way. This will be my 7th trip to the World.
Our precious nephew – Eric Matthew. This is Eric’s first trip to WDW and he is really excited. He’s kind of a hard kid to read, even more so in the past 8 months, but I know that he loves Disney and is a big Phineas and Ferb fan. He has been to Disneyland several times and when we’ve gone together we have had a great time. When we were making plans for our trip last year he kept hinting that he would really like to go. Unfortunately, our trip was planned for September after school started and when it was postponed to January of this year it was impossible for Eric to join us.
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September is a little warm but you'll be on Disney. We went about that same week in Sept a few years back. It was warm but the crowds were almost non existent. I hope you have a great time.
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September is a little warm but you'll be on Disney. We went about that same week in Sept a few years back. It was warm but the crowds were almost non existent. I hope you have a great time.
I think we will have a wonderful time regardless of the weather. I'm not a big fan of heat and humidity, but being at WDW more than makes up for my bad hair and um, glistening skin.....
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Originally Posted by Miss Alaska
Congrats on your up coming trip! Your nephew is very lucky to get to go with you! Kids have a way of adding an extra element of excitement to a trip!
kim
We've never experienced the World with a child before so we are really looking forward to it. Some of my best Disney memories are the ones that I have of trips taken to DL when our son was young. When he was two he was in LOVE with Mickey Mouse. One time he saw Mickey walking down Main Street on his way back to where characters go after a meet & greet. He unbuckled his stoller belt and ran up to Mickey. Mickey stopped, shook his hand and gave him a little peck. All night long our son told anyone who got within a foot of him, "Mickey Mouse kissed me! Mickey Mouse shaked my hand!" It was really adorable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by buzzspal2
Great start. I love WLVs too. Have fun.
We are great lovers of National Parks and have spent lots of summers camping, backpacking and hiking through forests. WL is themed so perfectly, it's hard to believe that you are just a short boat ride away from MK!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Great start!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieCVS
Great start! Enjoy your trip!
Thank you - I hope you continue to check in as I try to finish this PTR before our vacation starts.
Ordinarily, we would never dream of going to Disney World twice in the same year. It’s a fairly expensive vacation and !!! it’s not the only place we like to go. Add to that the fact that I really hate boarding my dogs. I honestly prefer vacations where my girls can be with us. I really adore my fur kids.
Cody Sue & Casey Jane winter camping with me in Big Bear.
In the past, it seems like all our WDW trips have happened on the heels of some personal crisis, i.e. after cancer surgeries, after a stroke, after pancolitis. Sadly the impetus for this trip is no different.
Eric’s dad, my younger brother, passed away last November 11 quite unexpectedly. He was told he had a minor case of pneumonia and given antibiotics. When he returned to the doctor 2 day later saying he was having trouble breathing they gave him muscle relaxants. Two days later he died from sepsis. He left 4 really terrific children ranging in age from 22 to 11 years old. My brother was an exceptional parent. He was involved in every aspect of his children’s lives. Although he and their mother were divorced, my brother took his younger children to school every day, coached their baseball and softball teams and spent every weekend with them. His children adored him.
His death devastated our entire family. He was everybody’s favorite – favorite sibling, favorite uncle, favorite in-law, even favorite offspring. We were never jealous of him because he was really wonderful. He was kind, loving and incredibly funny.
Naturally this loss has been especially hard on his children, in particular Eric. Without saying more than I should, I can say that he has not accepted and is not willing to accept that his father has died. He speaks about his dad in the present tense and although he intellectually realizes what has happened he still holds out some kind of hope that he will see him again, and I don’t mean in heaven.
My adult son, Matthew, for whom Eric Matthew is named, came home from the East Coast to spend time with his little cousin. He stayed for 5 months spending several days a week with Eric and his sisters and having Eric spend the night with us for all-night video game marathons. But Matthew had to go back home and attend to his business a couple of months ago. While he was here it seemed like Eric was coming out of his shell a little bit, but with Matthew back in New York, Eric has once again become very insular and quiet.
My husband and I want more than anything to put a smile back on our sweet nephew’s face. We hope that if there is any place magical enough to make him feel truly happy again, it’s got to be Disney World.
Oh! My heart goes out to you all and I will be praying for Eric's healing! You are very wonderful to try so hard to make a difference for this little boy. I truly believe that each of us can be a blessing to others. Sometimes in small ways and sometimes in life changing ways. I pray this will be a life changing way for Eric!
On a different note, do you have anybody that your furry babies can stay with instead of boarding them? We lost our 16 year old pookskie (really a male shih tzu) about 5 years ago. Then 6 months later we had friends get a new puppy. When our friends go out of town, Rascal comes to 'VACATION' at our house. We are too busy for a full time dog, but we still get our doggie fix. We all love this arrangement!
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kim
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!!! it’s not the only place we like to go. Add to that the fact that I really hate boarding my dogs. I honestly prefer vacations where my girls can be with us. I really adore my fur kids. 
Hybrid Mode
