The Millers Make Magical Memories PTR - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Update: Well, as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. And so have ours. We have decided to travel by………car. No train, no Auto Train, Even with gas prices and overnight stay on the way it is several hundred dollars cheaper. So now, we plan to leave 4-5 am (yeah, I’ll let you know if that really happens) on Saturday and drive as far as possible (into Georgia, maybe the Savannah exit). Then leave 8-9 am the next morning for the rest of the drive to the magic! We should get there with time to relax, swim, nap and get to ‘Ohana for our ADR. Followed by some EMH at MK. Of course, since we are driving, we have to leave earlier on the following Sunday than I was planning, but hopefully, we can get to NC by Sunday evening and stay over there. Leave Monday am to finish the drive. That gives me Tuesday and Wednesday to recover before going back to work. Other changes in the works----originally we were not going to do the DDP since DD does not eat enough to make it worth it, it would be cheaper OOP. Except, I realized in looking over our ADRs, ALL of them are buffet, family style or all you care to eat, so it might be worthwhile to get the DDP, at least for the first leg of the trip at POP. Stay tuned……..
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Eileen in South Jersey
Trips to WDW: 1994 POFQ; 2004 POP and POFQ; 2011 POP and Beach Club
Sorry about the Auto Train prices, but at least you were able to work something out!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG
Good luck with yalls drive. Very cute pics!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Good luck with the drive!
Thanks. We have done the drive before. Last time, we were heading south as Hurricane Jeanne was heading north, so when we got into Fla we saw a lot of damage. Rest stops were closed due to no electric, trees down, things like that. So hopefully, we won't have that this time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Glad you were able to make some changes that will save you money. Love the pictures of your daughter...she is adorable.
Thanks-the pics are from our 2004 trip when she was 5. She is now 12.
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Eileen in South Jersey
Trips to WDW: 1994 POFQ; 2004 POP and POFQ; 2011 POP and Beach Club
Well, as you can see by the ticker-one more sleep and the Millers will be making magical memories in Disney! It has been an up and down process-we almost had to cancel the trip and only made our final plans this week. When we first planned the trip, we were going to take the train down. Now we are driving. We originally had room only reservations at Pop and BC, now we have a package that includes the dining plan and more days at Pop, less at BC, But I am happy with what we ended up with. Our TA, Sandy, , stuck with me through plan changes, dining changes and travel changes! So here is our final plan:
8/20-Sat-leave by 5 am. We plan on driving around 12 hours which should get us to Brunswick, GA to stay for the night. Get a hotel (probably Country Inn and Suites), swim, relax,get some sleep.
8/21-Get up, eat breakfast, get on the road by 9 am. We should be at Pop by early afternoon. Get settled in, swim, relax. We have ressies for 'Ohana(my choice) at 8. Hopefully be able to see Wishes while we are eating dinner. Then, since MK is open for EMH, go there for a few hours.
8/22-DHS day-Lunch-CS (probably turkey legs), Dinner at H&V (DD choice).
8/23-Epcot Day-Lunch-CS, dinner Garden Grill (DD choice)
8/24-AK Day-breakfast-Tusker House (my choice), dinner-Boma (my choice). Probably go to DTD after dinner
8/25-Epcot Day-lunch-CS in world showcase, dinner at Cape May Cafe (everyone's choice)
8/26-MK Day. DH has the "Behind the Steam Trains Tour" early. Lunch at Columbia Harbor House (everyone's choice), Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern (DH choice)
8/27-Check out of PC, move to BC and spend the day enjoying the resort. No meal plans yet. Maybe go over to the Boardwalk or DTD.
8/28-check out of BC and begin the sad trip back
8/29-arrive home and back to real life
__________________
Eileen in South Jersey
Trips to WDW: 1994 POFQ; 2004 POP and POFQ; 2011 POP and Beach Club