10 for 10 in 2010 – Our Joyous January Journey Pre-Trip Report - UPDATED 1/20 - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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Your changes look great. I think DD will love going to BBB and getting the royal treatment just as much if not more that having a meal with the princessess.
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Your changes look great. I think DD will love going to BBB and getting the royal treatment just as much if not more that having a meal with the princessess.
Thanks! I hope she loves it--I would've loved BBB when I was a kid so I'm living vicariously through her.
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I was so excited when I read your post. We are also going to Disney in January 2010 for a family trip and we are taking another family with us, who have NEVER been there.
I am so excited planning everything, rooms, dining, and then some. We are staying at the Animal Kingdom Resort with a savana view. Its all we can think about!
I made all of my dining reservation for the entire week as soon as I could.
So, I know exactly what you are feeling.
The count down is at 80 days!
Off to Disney we go
I was so excited when I read your post. We are also going to Disney in January 2010 for a family trip and we are taking another family with us, who have NEVER been there.
I am so excited planning everything, rooms, dining, and then some. We are staying at the Animal Kingdom Resort with a savana view. Its all we can think about!
I made all of my dining reservation for the entire week as soon as I could.
So, I know exactly what you are feeling.
The count down is at 80 days!
Off to Disney we go
Hi there! Good to see another January traveler. Savana view at AKL sounds wonderful! I hope to do that one day too.
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Just getting caught up on your TR. Your trip plans sound great! You certainly have a number of things to celebrate!
It can get chilly when the sun goes down, so be sure to have sweaters/sweatshirts/jackets.
I always worry about which resort and constantly second-guess (and third, fourth, etc.) myself too.
Thanks for reading along! Good tip about the sweaters, etc. -- we're definitely planning to bring layers. I saw some cute "make-your-own" fleeces on disneystore.com yesterday (surprisingly, not that expensive) and I was thinking of making one for each of us. Glad I'm not alone with the resort second-guessing.
So now that I've turned over my TS plans to the IPO (still working on "letting go" and not worrying about it), I'm focusing my attention on our CS plans.
We don't typically schedule out where and when we're going to do our CS meals but I put together a wish list and we try to hit as many as possible during the trip. Here's what the list looks like so far:
Sunshine Seasons
World Showcase-TBD (we usually do Tangerine but since we're doing Marakkesh I thought we'd try something different -- maybe France or Mexico)
Pinocchio's (dd loves this because she can see the IASW boats)
Casey's
Columbia Harbor House
I also have a list going in my head of some snacky treats I want to get while we're there:
Fudge
Chocolate dipped banana
Cinnamon roll from Main St. Bakery
Peanut butter chocolate cake from Boardwalk Bakery
Crepes from the cart in France
A canoli (I think I heard they sell these somewhere in Italy)
No Way Jose from Beaches & Cream
Cupcake from Starring Rolls
Coming up: park plans
P.S. DD is in love with the smileys and asked to put one in for you--here's her choice: (she called them "the guys eating breakfast" - pretty appropriate for this post!)
Last edited by WeRDisneyFanatics; 10-16-2009 at 09:15 AM..
Reason: typo
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Everything sounds great. I am glad you were able to move things around without any hassel. Good news on your SWA flight.
Your trip will be here before you know it.
Whew. All caught up. Great plans all the way around and I can appreciate trying to plan on what makes the least amount of impact when it comes to missing school. We plan on returning on a Monday as well. I like the BBB and Toon Town ideas for your daughter and yes, it is nice to do something different!
By the way, we are all obsessive planners and over thinkers here so you are NEVER alone in that!
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(I let her pick a smiley--hope the umbrella isn't an omen
)!
Good to see another January traveler. Savana view at AKL sounds wonderful! I hope to do that one day too.
(still working on "letting go" and not worrying about it
(she called them "the guys eating breakfast" - pretty appropriate for this post!)
Liz 
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