Dreaming of a Disney spring break! THIS SECTION COMPLETED - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great update Larry! While I hope the gov't gets it all worked out, it would be kind of nice to be able to extend your vacation . . . you can sleep on the pullout couch in our room if you want!
Thank you, ma'am--most kind!
If it happens in sufficient time for me to respond, I should be able to secure something with Member Services. I have some more DVC points and I'm not afraid to use them.
I sure hope you get refunded the money from that Egypt fiasco! That was truly a nightmare and I hate that they are making you jump hurdles to get your money back. Glad you got your travel insurance sorted out even if it was a headache.....
Sounds like your plans are coming together. You two are all but there, I hope you have a great trip!
Wow, so much planning, and yet you always seem to pull it off every trip! Can't wait to hear the final plans, after which we can wish you a bon voyage!!!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I had known about Cheryl and Mark's visit for quite a while, and that Wendy and clan were going to be there, too. And I found out later that Heather and Brandon would be going.
When I first heard about the trip, I wanted to target this weekend to be at WDW and see everyone (also because of its proximity to my Birthday) but I had two issues. One, I really had no leave to spare because of a tour I am going on this Summer. Two, I expected to be fully engaged in a proposal effort to hang onto the contract that currently pays my salary.
Thanks to the slowpokes at NASA, who are not being helped by the funding circus in DC I might add, the proposal was delayed. Suddenly (and we're talking last week) I realized that if I could still get the non stop flights on Airtran, I might make this work. I could blow off part of the day on Friday, which would not require a vacation day, and come back on Sunday. I had DVC points available AND an active Annual Pass.
The airfare almost killed it. Only Business Class was available for the trip down and while there was a slightly cheaper seat for the trip back, the bulk of what was available there was also BC. but I really wanted to see everyone, so I decided to be the martyr and suffer through early boarding, larger seats, free bag check and complimentary cocktail!
I called DVC Member Services and got only halfway through my list before scoring a Savannah View Studio Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House.
Success! So, that's how I ended up scheduling my shortest fuse ever trip to WDW to meet up with these fine folks.
One more little tidbit: if the Federal government does shutdown and I know about it with enough lead time, I may be able to extend my stay because I will be on furlough. Of course, given Congress' oft-practiced brinksmanship, I'll bet I won't have enough advanced notice. But this should add a bit of suspense, yes?
Thanks for your patience! I now return this PTR to its rightful owner!
See ya real soon! Safe travels!
Great interruption Larry - and happy to have you interrupting this pre-trip report!
If it happens in sufficient time for me to respond, I should be able to secure something with Member Services. I have some more DVC points and I'm not afraid to use them.
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I sure hope you get refunded the money from that Egypt fiasco! That was truly a nightmare and I hate that they are making you jump hurdles to get your money back.
Well, we won't forget about it and let it drop, I can assure you of that!
By the time we’d finished, we ended up with these as our final plans for our dream Disney spring break. At this point, I’ll explain that I tend to base our plans around dining and any special events, such as backstage tours. I don’t come up with detailed touring plans any longer for each park. I tend to get about as far as having an idea of which park we might visit on any day and that’s about it.
Wednesday 6 April:
Day at work, then off to the airport to stay the night for our flight the next day
Thursday 7 April:
Fly out to the States
Check into the Beach Club Villas
Dinner at the Cape May Cafe with Wendy and her family
Friday 8 April:
Fort Wilderness Segway tour with Ben
Lunch at Beaches and Cream with Wendy and her family
Dinner at La Hacienda with Wendy and her family and a few other PassPorters , followed by IllumiNations
Saturday 9 April:
Late breakfast/early lunch at the Crystal Palace with Wendy and her family
Dinner at Chef Mickey’s with Wendy and her family, Heather and Brandon, Sean, Sharon and Ciaran
Sunday 10 April:
Lunch at Teppan Edo with Sean, Sharon and Ciaran
Dinner at ‘Ohana with Wendy, Heather and Brandon
Monday 11 April:
Breakfast at the Cape May Cafe with Wendy and her family and then say goodbye to them.
Sean, Mark and Ciaran heading to Kennedy Space Center, while Sharon and I go shopping and enjoy some pampering at the Grand Floridian Spa
Dinner at Boma with Sean, Sharon, Ciaran, Heather and Brandon
Tuesday 12 April:
Check into the Villas at Wilderness Lodge
Lunch at the Coral Reef with Bruce and Marta
Dinner at Le Cellier with Heather and Brandon
Wednesday 13 April:
Nature Inspired Design Segway tour
Lunch at Biergarten with Sean, Sharon and Ciaran
Dinner at Artist Point
Thursday 14 April:
Breakfast at Ohana with Sean, Sharon and Ciaran
Set sail on the Disney Dream!
Friday 15 April:
On board the Disney Dream – our day at Nassau.
Dinner at Remy
Saturday 16 April:
On board the Disney Dream – our day at Castaway Cay.
Dinner at Palo
Sunday 17 April:
Arrive back from the Disney Dream
Check into Bay Lake Tower.
Lunch at T-Rex with Sean, Sharon and Ciaran and then say goodbye to them.
Dinner at the California Grill with Elaine and Keith
Monday 18 April:
Inspiration: Through Walt’s Eyes tour
Lunch at Mama Melrose’s
Dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse with Elaine and Keith
Tuesday 19 April:
Check into Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas.
Lunch at the Rose and Crown
Dinner at Tutto Italia with Gemma (Gembley) and her husband
Wednesday 20 April:
Possible day at SeaWorld / St. Augustine / Sarasota
Dinner at Sanaa with Bruce and Marta
Thursday 21 April:
Possible day at SeaWorld / St. Augustine / Sarasota
Dinner at Tokyo Dining
Friday 22 April: (Good Friday)
Move to a studio on concierge level at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas.
Late lunch at Fulton’s Crab House
Early show of La Nouba
Dinner at the concierge lounge
Saturday 23 April:
Possible day at SeaWorld / St. Augustine / Sarasota
Dinner at Boma with Bruce and Marta
Sunday 24 April: (Easter Sunday)
Sunrise Safari Breakfast Adventure
Lunch at the Mara
Fly home in the late afternoon after a wonderful vacation
Monday 25 April: (Easter Monday)
Arrive home and then back to work the next day
We’re now pretty much packed and ready to head out and that’s it from us until late April. I will try and do live updates as and when we can – having free Internet access as DVC members does come in very handy. Now it’s off to sunny Florida and a huge dose of Disney!
Great plans Cheryl. I laughed out loud when I looked at Wednesday the 13th. We weren't planning on having lunch with you . . . but depending on what time your Biergarten reservation is . . . we'll be there at the same time for our last Disney meal!
I'm so jealous that you'll be in Disney tomorrow and you'll be checking into one of my favorite resorts!!! I hope you have a magical and safe trip and I can't wait for your live updates.
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I can't wait to here about the tour! 
. Glad you got your travel insurance sorted out even if it was a headache.....
. You two are all but there, I hope you have a great trip!
PassPorter Guide Author
Safe travels! 
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