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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We took our last trip in 2010 and I followed the board and wrote a really awesome TR, which is still on my computer and was never posted. But it was awesome, you will just have to trust me on that. J I have been holding out on a PTR until less than 60 days out, my magic get-back-to-planning arbitrary number.
Cast of Characters:
Myself: I am a full-time teacher and newly minted seamstress, more on that later. I have been to WDW lots. We started going when I was 4 and my aunt lived in Florida. I’ve never been more than 5 years without going at least once (which totals 7 trips). We aren’t die hard, spend a week kinda people, but it is definitely something we enjoy.
Hubby: Also a full time teacher. He has only been twice, but our last trip we did it up right and stayed on property. We both began to appreciate as adults how *well* Disney pays attention to details. He is really big on details.
Will (6): He went with us in 2010 as a 3 year old. He loved it, but of course have very little memory outside of the pictures. Those memories were for me!
Maggie (turning 4): Loves princesses, loves Doc McStuffins, loves Sophia. She knows that when she turns 4 she will be old enough to go to meet Cinderella. They know that they are earning stickers to go on a summer trip. They just don’t know that the two things are the same! Her birthday is a week and a half before we go. She can't read a calendar so we are just "holding it" until we get there.
Sis: When we decided to go we called her up and asked if she wanted to tag along. Um, yeah! She is a big Eeyore fan and has a healthy appreciation for Disney like the rest of us.
Mom and Dad (mine): The originators of the idea. Mom: “So, the kids are a really good age for WDW. Do you think you might want to go sometime?” This started 18 months ago. Dad when I worry about fitting things in: “Don’t worry about doing everything. This won’t be the last time you go to Disney right? How many times did we go?”
My dad is the least likely sentimental person you will ever meet. However, in 1983 he carried around a video camera all day at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Back then you actually carried both the big camera and a VCR to do the recording. It was the size of like 2 cable boxes. Crazy heavy, spring break, 80-90 degree weather, but we have home movies of Disney from 1983. Priceless. I burned them to DVD a few years ago.
So, after my mom had dropped lots of hints about going to Disney and we got all our credit cards paid down, my husband and I talked and I checked crowd calendars and school holidays and we settled on June 3-7. We might have squeezed out the weekend before but I am betting that weekdays are better than weekends, right?
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Sounds like a wonderful group of family going my DH and our 3 kiddos are going June 14-21...so we will just miss you. This is the first time my sister and my 2 nieces will be joining us, so I am very anxious to hear about what others who have family joining in have to say. I can't wait o hear more
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
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Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I have heard a lot of people say that they are going when we are. An old collegue of mine is even bringing her crew on overlapping days! I hope these means that all the nice people are going to be there and not that just ALL the people are going to be there! But I plan on having a blast regardless.
__________________
June 2013-BLT; Nov 2010-CBR; 2000-offsite, Universal and Epcot; 1996-All-Star Music; 1994-school choir competition; 1987-offsite; 1985-offsite; 1982-offsite
Will (age 3) and Mickey
My favorite picture from last trip. This was completely spontaneous and he was so excited. This is also why I love Photopass.
Back to the PTR....
We decided to do this as a deluxe trip. I may regret this when we end up at Pop next time, but enjoy it right? My dad is retired National Guard so he is sponsoring us with discounted room and tickets. I asked my mom if she had any preferences where to stay. She suggested we stay on the monorail so that we can go back for naps in the afternoon. We were at Caribbean Beach last time and once you left the parks, there really was no going back. Then mom also asked about finding a place with a kitchen so we can cook meals. The parents weren't crazy about the expense of meals at Disney. Hmmm…Kitchen on the monorail. At the moment there is only one option with these requirements. Bay Lake Tower.
We called up that week, at night, not 7 am eastern, on some random Tuesday with this very specific request. We want a military rate(limited block of rooms) for a 2 bedroom villa at Bay Lake Tower June 3-7. The cast member said that she wasn’t sure because it was more than 7 months out and BLT might be reserved for DVC members, but she would check. Checking, checking, checking. About 5 minutes of checking and random chatter. Then, poof. BLT w/ a lake view for 5 adult,s 2 kids. Pixie dust already. I have since found out how magical that was because some people on other boards have stalked the phone lines to get the same deal with no luck.
Even with the military discount, this trip isn’t cheap, but we are splitting it between us and my little family could never take this trip alone without the splitting and discount so here is for once in a lifetime!
Fast forward a moment to current planning. Since we have the kitchen we plan on bringing a lot meals. We are pre-cooking meals and packing up the Yeti. So far we have planned on sandwiches, tacos/taco salad and spaghetti. All that can be pre-cooked and frozen. My dad makes awesome spaghetti sauce “for an army.” Literally he was the mess sergeant in the Guard, so he cooks everything in batches for like 15-30 people. He is starting to trim down, but he starts his spaghetti sauce with 2 lbs of ground beef.
We are still working out some more meals. I’m sure I will be stalking Pinterest to get ideas!
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my DH and our 3 kiddos are going June 14-21...so we will just miss you. This is the first time my sister and my 2 nieces will be joining us, so I am very anxious to hear about what others who have family joining in have to say. I can't wait o hear more 
PassPorter Guide Author
Kristin
planning your meals!
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