Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
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07-04-2003, 03:43 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Edmonton, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 17,823
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WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS---COMPLETED!!!!
WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS
Cast of Characters: Myself(wendy), 28
Joshua(son), 8
Carlee(daughter), 7
Whitney(niece), 16
Dexter(nephew), 13
Kaylie(niece), 11
This trip actually starts Saturday, June 21 with a stay over at the RADISSON at Indianapolis Airport.
The limo picks us up at about a quarter to three Saturday afternoon and we arrive at the hotel shortly before 4pm, give or take. Check in was uneventful. Up to our rooms on the 5th floor. We have connecting rooms so it was really nice to have all that extra space. Not the cheapest, but at $89/room it wasn't too bad. We snack on the peanut butter sandwiches while waiting on our cheeseburgers from room service arrive. I had baked cookies and brought pepsi with us, so room service wasn't bad at all.
We were all so sleepy, yet so wired that we couldn't wait to get our pajamas on and get under the covers. Unfortunately, our bodies weren't letting us go to bed at 6:30pm! So we watched a little on the telly(not much on a Saturday night). Caught the bit of sprots on the news that told us that our hometown lost the Boy's Baseball Championship by 3 points. Good Job Frankton!! Number 2 is alright also!! Woohoo!!
We set the wake up call and are really really bored by now so we find Rat Race and watch a bit of it. I was finally getting really tired and I think I was asleep by 9pm.
More to come so stick around. Up next, Sunday, our day of travel.
Wendy
[ 07-05-2003, 08:08 PM: Message edited by: Wendyismyname ]
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07-04-2003, 03:45 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Edmonton, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 17,823
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Re: WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS---COMPLETED!!!!
SUNDAY JUNE 22
Cast of Characters: Myself(wendy), 28
Joshua(son), 8
Carlee(daughter), 7
Whitney(niece), 16
Dexter(nephew), 13
Kaylie(niece), 11
We wake up at 4am and every one is pretty much up and ready by 5am and ready to go to the airport. So off we go. We do self check with ATA and it wasn't that bad at all. Not too busy at that time of the morning. I am checking out the bookstores for the Harry Potter book and find it after we go thru security. We go eat at McDonald's and I see the line forming for security. We finish up and stand in line. WHAT???? We have to take off our shoes! I thought I smelled a stench and that must have been it! Well, my purse gets pulled aside and said they need to check it. Not a problem I say, I know there are my round scissors in there(to cut the black zip ties). Oops! Next is Josh's bag. Two pair of scissors! LOL! In his crayon box. While both where child scissors, they took the ones that were pointed, but still rounded. Not a problem there either. The lady was extremely nice.
On to the gate. We wait for only about 1 hour until we start loading. Get loaded without a hitch. Dexter and Kaylie really enjoy their first flight and I am really glad it was a non stop. Those layovers are a real pain! I really enjoyed starting that new book(I bought the second to last copy in one store, the others were all sold out).
Whoa! That's a thunderstorm we are landing in! Not too bad on the turbulence. I enjoyed it really. Am thinking that Florida must know that I am coming so that is why it is raining! Ha Ha!
Well, onto the baggage claim where we are met by Mr. Lamy from TTC. He remembered us from last time and as before, he was very kind and curteous!
It was raining still a little as we were driving and I hope my picture of the Walt Disney World sign comes out fine. But if it doesn't, I'll be back there some time and will take another!
It is such a great feeling that comes over you when you come onto property. That excitement builds even more! We arrive at the Beach Club where I wait in line to check in. It only took about 10 minutes before I got called, but it was still quick and painless! It was really neat to hear my first Welcome Home! Although I think since I read so much about all the resorts, some of the 'newness' wore off because I felt that I had been there before(aside from the usual touring).
Since we arrived before 1pm, I was not expecting my room to be ready, but lo and behold it was! I only requested a smoking room, and was not picky about the view or anything else, but my request was ignored and the smoking rooms were all taken. HOWEVER, we had an awesome location. Ground floor, end of the hall, closest to the quiet pool and bus stop. So I could live with having to smoke outside.
Well, we store our luggage in the room and take off to resort hop. I had PS for Boma that night at 5:30pm but we were all starving. So I suggested eating at Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. I really love that place(the resort) and am looking forward to staying there.
We get three meatloaf plates, a chicken plate, and macaroni and cheese and a hot dog. Every one is fed and quite blissfully happy.
We head out to the dock and catch the ferry to Ft. Wilderness. NOW we felt at home! We shopped in the Settlement trading post and caught the next ferry to the Contemporary. We shopped at the stores there also and then up to the monorail and more resort hopping. The four younger kids were able to ride up front for the first time and received their co-pilots license. They liked that. I think I like the Polynesian the best out the three monorail resorts. But we go into each and look around. The kids were not really impressed with the Grand Floridian and thought the lobby was too rich and snobbish. I think it is really pretty though and the orchestra was playing while we were there.
Anyhow, we board the monorail again and I am finally able to get ahold of my husband. He hears part of the recording and laughed. He was certainly able to guess where we were! LOL!!
We get off at Magic Kingdom and I could feel it pulling me. It was saying 'Wendy come in!!', but I trudged on to the bus stop. Laughed at Whitney as she started to board the ferry back to Ft. Wilderness, since both times she has been, that is where we have stayed.
We didn't wait long for the bus to arrive. Back to the Yacht Club where we decide to get off and walk thru. Back to the room and almost ready to call it a night. First thing I noticed was the groceries had arrived and the preishables had been put away. Very cool indeed!
We unpack and the kids get cleaned up. It took us a little while to get used to all those doors leading into the master bath area.
Set the wake up call for 6am and get ready for bed. Think we were out by 9pm!
Stick around, there's more. Next up, Monday!
Wendy
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07-04-2003, 04:42 PM
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#3
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Pittsburgh, PA , USA
Posts: 5,943
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Re: WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS---COMPLETED!!!!
Great start to your trip! You were brave taking all those little people with you - can't wait to hear more! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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07-04-2003, 06:15 PM
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#4
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Mrs. Jack Sparrow
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Aboard the Black Pearl
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 21,228
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Re: WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS---COMPLETED!!!!
I wish I could have gotten to the Raddison to meet you. We'll have to figuer some out. Sound like a lot of fun so far . I'm looking forward to reading more. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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07-04-2003, 06:47 PM
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#5
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS---COMPLETED!!!!
Great report so far - can't wait to hear more about your resort since we are considering a stay there!!
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07-04-2003, 07:32 PM
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#6
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Kempton, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 1,812
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Re: WENDY & FAMILY DISNEY TRIP JUNE 22-30, BEACH CLUB VILLAS---COMPLETED!!!!
Wow, you took 5 kids that weren't even all yours? You're a brave woman [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ! I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip!
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