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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So this trip has been a work in progress for about 3 years! Life got busy but we knew we wanted to get back because let's face it...who wouldn't want to get back to the happiest place on earth.
To start things off let me tell you about us
Sam (Me) - Cinderella & Maleficent lover, 5th trip to WDW
Rob (DH) - loves that life gets left behind while we are there, 5th trip
Ty (DS) - celebration his 15th birthday while we are there, 4th trip
Madi (DD) - Frozen lover extraordinaire , 4th trip
Dude (DS) - Star Wars & Cars lover, 4th trip
We all live in a small town about an hour from the Canadian Capital (Ottawa)
So like I said we have been planning this trip for about 3 years We took an impromptu trip last year! It happened that friends of ours that live in Kingston (Ontario) were headed to Florida at the exact same time we were. Only they were going to Disney and we were planning on just chilling to get away from the Canadian winter. Well Disney opened up a deal so we surprised them and showed up at the CBR to surprise them. I left them a poem on their door with a riddle leading them to our room
Here is a video of there reaction. I had the mom record it as she was told I sent a surprise http://vid1064.photobucket.com/album...pshprijpaj.mp4
We could only do 1 day in the park but what a day it was spent with our friends and it was a great surprise for them and us. It was a great trip and made the wait to our big trip a little less painful
When we first started planning our trip it was just us going and planning then last year just before they opened this year's booking my BFF mentioned she would like to come but had no idea what it would cost. SO I hoped online and got her a very rough idea on cost and went over everything from Resort categories to DDP options. So we decided the Art of Animation would be the best resort for us both with us being a family of 5 (suite) and her family of 4 (mermaid section) and the Quick Service plan was best for us both! She was so excited and couldn't wait for the days to open so she could put her deposit. I was super stoked to have my BFF and her family of newbie's to show around the place that I (and all of us) love so much. We got together and planned things out, we would start the days together eat lunch split up in the afternoon and then join back up for dinner if we decided on an ADR or after dinner and spend the evening together.
Well the price releases open up and I call her over the moon that we were just about to put our deposit down and low and behold she tells me know that she isn't going and that a trip to Calgary is more important. Okay I get it but I'm totally bummed that she isn't coming now so I go back to planning for just us 5.
So I go ahead and book us
April 11 - April 20
Art Of Animation Resort - Nemo Suite
6 Day Base Tickets
Water Park Fun and More Option
Quick Service Meal Plan
and of course I took the Memory Maker cause I personally think its awesome and well worth the money
It was great.
Then it happened........................
I lost my rather good paying job unexpectedly. I was worrying how we were going to pay for it but knew that no matter what this had to happen. To make matters worse the Canadian Dollar started to TANK and take a nose dive. SO I cut everywhere I can to get what we can on the trip. Things have to get better right?
__________________
Sammi
Last edited by BlueCinderellaEyes; 01-21-2016 at 07:19 PM..
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Thanks everyone for the kind words about my job. It really was a blessing in disguise. I was super stressed out and I wasn’t sleeping. Now I sleep like a log and get to be the mom I wanted to be while I was working
Well they do (sorta) Disney is still happening so that’s always a bonus!!
So with the scrimping and saving that is going on and money when we have it is being dropped on the trip. The money still isn’t getting on the trip at the pace I would like but I’m doing what I can.
Well Thank You Disney and the newly release Discount. I hop on the website Disney and see what can be taken off of our trip. Well it turns out to be like $150 off the Art of Animation Suite but........ BUT..................... if we switch to Port Orleans Riverside its like $1500! Canadian that’s like $2000. To me it’s simple we switch. I talk to the kids and Rob and I have only Madi sold on the switch because we are still going and we are able to save money. Talk to Rob and he isn’t budging he wants AoA. So I leave things alone. The next day I see Rob looking at the Port Orleans resort and he tells be to call and switch things. So New Years Day I call and switch us over to Port Orleans Riverside in a preferred location. We always opt out of that due to the extra cost but with the savings and the size of the resort it was a no brainer. This leaves us less than half of what we still had to pay left. Decide to drop the balance on it out of our savings for two reasons
1) 1)We have no choice but to get the money back into our account
2) 2)The Canadian Dollar was still nose diving at $1.40+ on our exchange
Great savings by switching resorts! We have always enjoyed our stays there. The food court, Boatwright's, the pool and landscaping are great! It's a comfortable place to retreat after a long park day.
So Who is actually going to WDW That is the big question right? I mean it is the name of the Pre-TR!
We obviously there is us 5 (Me, Rob, Ty, Madi & Dude) but after the friends bailed on us it was looking like it would just be us 5. I was content with that. I know how we travel the parks and don't have to worry about traveling with anyone.
Well like all of us I love Disney and will talk Disney to anyone who will listen. I was talking with one of Ty's BFF's moms about our trip and how my kid (Ty) was like "Geez I don't get a birthday cake again" Laughing I had said to her "tough life having to celebrate two birthdays in WDW and not get a cake"! We laughed and she mentioned they were headed to Florida and to their condo in Fort Myers the last week in April. We continued with our friendly chat while we were at the hockey arena and that was that.
Well the next practice she out of the blue asks me to confirm Ty's birthday as she thought it was the 14th. So I corrected her and told her it was the 12th. The look of pure devastation on her face was weird to stay the least. When I asked her why she had asked, she told me she was going to try to change her vacation and have Brad (the BFF) could surprise Ty for his birthday at WDW. So she said - Well that's not going to work then. I had told her that's a shame as it would have been cool. Nydean looks at her hubby and looks back at me and says "If I can get my vacation changed would you mind if we tagged along with you guys?" So what am I supposed to say other then "Oh course"
After I got home I started to panic a little. Don't get me wrong we really like them. They are a family of 4 and their two kids are great friends with my two oldest kids but we never have spent that much time together other than me having her kids and her having mine and us talking at the arena or my birthday party last year that we invited them too. So what did I do to calm my nerves but pop on the passporter boards and ask all of you wonderful people what I should do. I got the wonderful advise that I knew I would. Sit down and talk about what we wanted to do together and what we wanted to do alone. SO I was going to do just that once everything was confirmed.
Nydeen was having a very hard time getting the time off. She could have the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but was waitlisted for the Monday and the 2 Fridays they would need. We texted everyday and then finally on January 27th she got word that she got the time off that she requested. I happened to text her that night teasing her about how long it was taking to get a response when she responded with: So hear me out okay. Please do not scream, Breath, inhale, exhale, inhale exhale. I got the time off I requested. Kids will not find out we are going to Florida until April 7th. All they are going to know if that we are heading to the condo on the 8th.
Brad & Ty Camping last summer along the St Lawrence River at Farren Park
Madi & McKenzie at Madi's Birthday Party last year - TANK was just a puppy (man I wish he was still that small )
So I'm over the moon for my kids who will get to spend time with their Besties at WDW!! With a million things running through my head but the biggest one was how do I nicely bring up the planning portion. When I get another text from her with the following message:
So we will leave Fort Myers on Monday (11) around 3 - 4pm {I'm hopping the kids will bicker and I can use that as an excuse to pack up and leave} Go check in to WDW. Do the Magic Kingdom with you guys on Tuesday and we will do Epcot on Wednesday and then meet back up with you guys to do Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Thinking about ASSports or CBR
So this sounds perfect to me. She took care of making sure we won't be together all the time in that text message. We will be getting together before our Fast Pass window opens to figure out a few more details. We won't even be at the same resort so that at least leaves the evenings to chill if we all needed downtime. LOL unless she is just toughing me off and shows up at Port Orleans Riverside
So now we will be a party of 9.
The 5 of us
Nydean - has been to WDW a few times as a travel agent
Keith (her hubby), Bradley (14) , and McKenzie (12 aka Mickey) all WDW newbies
I'm very excited to be with newbies for their first visit and to surprise two of my kids with their BFF's when we go to the Magic Kingdom.
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Sammi
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But I am so sorry your BFF had to back out and then you also lost your job. 
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
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