Trip Report "Dreams Really Can Come True" 6/1/09-6/8/09 - COMPLETED 7/19 - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Glad to hear you received your PassHolder and name badge! I don't have any of the PassPorter pins, so I can't answer that question for you. Have you tried contacting the store directly?
Great updates....love your choices of ADR's. We loved Boma, think it was everyone's favorite meal from our December trip. We are definitely going again in August for dinner (great selection). I have heard such amazing things about Jiko, I am sure you will have such a wonderful meal there...
As for your random questions...we love the photopass, we always pre-order (and you can get a refund if you really are not happy with the pictures). We have found that even on our short trip we got some great pictures and it was definitely worth it.
We do get the refillable mugs, just on our nightly runs we make up for the worth of the cup and many times we use them in the morning for breakfast and then the water or juice that we get with breakfast we take to the parks...works out well.
We did not pin trade at first but on our June trip my little one was excited about it, her pin collection is growing and she had a great time trading in December. I don't let her go to crazy with the pins. I bought her a starter set (and a few from e-bay) so she could trade. She has her spending money so she does pencil off some for pins, and at the end of the trip I will get her one that she feels will remind her of the trip and she is happy.
Your trip is getting really close now...before you realize it will be here...can't wait to hear more updates.
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Counting down to the 10 day countdown – or – “Are we going hiking or to Disney World?”
So getting down to the point where I’m just about ready to break out the luggage. (Poor things! They haven’t seen any action in a while.) The backpack dilemma is solved – we got hydration backpacks by Swiss Camping Gear (yeah, the knife folks) and one kid-sized Camelbak. The Swiss ones were $19.99 at BJ’s Warehouse and I got the kid Camelbak from SierraTradingPost.com for $15.95 on clearance (hurry and get yours – rep sez only 71 left!)
I can’t help feeling deep down inside that we will look kinda weird sippin’ on our tubes, but the trade-off was carrying around bottles or finding places to refill. (And then there’s the aluminum vs. plastic thing.) A bonus for the packs was that they have decent cargo room and that they are “skinnier” than regular backpacks. BF said they help to cool your back while touring. She said they would be a little heavy at first, but they get lighter as you use them.
Planned park touring gear:
-waterpacks filled with essentials (hand sanitizer, touring plans, etc)
- a personal mister (the pump-n-spray kind) kind of a big cylinder, but SO GOOD when yer hot!
-PassHolder (i.d. stuff, digital camera, memory cards, extra battery)
-camera bag (only for certain times and parks)
-binoculars for AK (maybe)
-phones
- We will also carry hats and sunblock wipes.
We used to visit my uncle in Naples, Fl every year in June, so I have no delusions as to how hot it’s going to be. The “staying hydrated” part is important to me b/c I remember my 10 yo niece shuffling around Epcot with these two bright red spots on her cheeks in the middle July. She was very close to heat exhaustion. I don’t mind looking like a pack mule as long as we are safe!
Gotta figure out a way to hang autograph books on the waterpacks – maybe with a carabiner… (Are we going hiking or to Disney World?!)
I was going through all the things I have gotten over the weeks for this trip. I looked at the receipts and was shocked! There IS a budget worksheet in the front of the PassPorter. I kind of glossed over it b/c we got the 4/3 deal, the DDP and we’re using DME. The place on the budget sheet for “extras” is five lines long and did not really let me know what I was in for. I spent $104 at Walmart, $14 at the dollar store, and $42 at CVS drugstore. These are just the receipts that I found. At this time, without adding it up, I have no idea how much I’ve spent online. Clothing, proper shoes, books, PassPorter membership, touringplans membership, ebay (trading pins, iron-ons and autograph books), the Disney Store, tip envelopes, waterpacks, park essentials, Garden Grocer, luggage fees, toiletries – it certainly adds up! I still haven’t gotten the pre-paid photopass, and a few other things. Oh – and we need haircuts! I’m definitely not complaining, but a Disney vacation budget is more than just the resort and park tickets. Usually, when we head to Florida, we just throw beach gear in the suitcase and roll out. This is much more elaborate. I’ll know next time!
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Great TR! AKL is my favorite resort and we will be in Kidani Village June 7 - 18, so we just might run across you all. It sounds like you've gotten almost everything together, and really it's almost time to leave.
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I don't have any of the PassPorter pins, so I can't answer that question for you. 
Have you tried contacting the store directly?
(Poor things! They haven’t seen any action in a while.) The backpack dilemma is solved – we got hydration backpacks by Swiss Camping Gear (yeah, the knife folks) and one kid-sized Camelbak. The Swiss ones were $19.99 at BJ’s Warehouse and I got the kid Camelbak from SierraTradingPost.com for $15.95 on clearance (hurry and get yours – rep sez only 71 left!)
The “staying hydrated” part is important to me b/c I remember my 10 yo niece shuffling around Epcot with these two bright red spots on her cheeks in the middle July. She was very close to heat exhaustion. I don’t mind looking like a pack mule as long as we are safe! 
There IS a budget worksheet in the front of the PassPorter. I kind of glossed over it b/c we got the 4/3 deal, the DDP and we’re using DME. The place on the budget sheet for “extras” is five lines long and did not really let me know what I was in for. I spent $104 at Walmart, $14 at the dollar store, and $42 at CVS drugstore. These are just the receipts that I found. At this time, without adding it up, I have no idea how much I’ve spent online. Clothing, proper shoes, books, PassPorter membership, touringplans membership, ebay (trading pins, iron-ons and autograph books), the Disney Store, tip envelopes, waterpacks, park essentials, Garden Grocer, luggage fees, toiletries – it certainly adds up! 
I still haven’t gotten the pre-paid photopass, and a few other things. Oh – and we need haircuts! I’m definitely not complaining, but a Disney vacation budget is more than just the resort and park tickets. Usually, when we head to Florida, we just throw beach gear in the suitcase and roll out. This is much more elaborate. I’ll know next time! 
everyone for your advice and tips!)
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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