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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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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Well here it is, finally after days of trying I have pictures uploaded to start trying to recount our journey through "This is Nutz" at Walt Disney World. Lots of firsts on this trip, a TON of pictures (over 1200 just on my cell phone alone) and a lot of changing of plans (naturally) Thanks for joining along, enjoy the ride!
If you want a quick recap:
This vacation got moved around several times due to my mom's ever changing work schedule. We finally settled on NEW YEARS EVE! Since it was a time we actually had overlapping days off to minimize vacation usage. My mom and I don't live anywhere near each other anymore so we needed this little escape together since it's just been the two of us most of my life, and Disney is more fun than either of our respective homes
We are DVC members and I have an annual pass so that opens a lot of options up for us, and boy did we take some of them! I had just gone in September on a shortened version of our original trip with my boyfriend, so I was able to really just enjoy the extra holiday things this trip! It was just the two of us this time around, although you will see some guest appearances from friends and family members!
I was up bright and early to wait for my CityShuttle to the DFW Airport. I had mostly packed everything the night before and just had the (of course) last few minute things to throw in in the morning. With my medium sized luggage still MIA from United, I was left with my larger suitcase. Well, you give me space and I’m sure going to fill it. Sooo I get to the American counter and my bag is 54 pounds! Some quick movement of a sweater and some shoes and I’m at 51.5 and in the clear, whew, paying $100 off the bat would have been less than ideal. My AA status now allows me two free checked bags, which will be my new plan of packing attack rather than dealing with that disaster regularly.
I was quickly through Priority Access security and settled in at my gate. I realized with the awkward timing of my flight and our dinner plans, I should grab lunch for the plane at some point. I honestly don’t recall what I did for breakfast though. I ran over to TGI Friday’s express and picked up a sandwich for the flight!
Christmas Tree in MCO
The flight was uneventful and I arrived a little early, so I headed down to baggage check. Why? Because DME messed up and sent us the yellow tags for the second half of our stay! Didn’t want our bags to be missing until we transferred to the Poly! My mom hadn’t landed yet so over I went. There was some sort of delay where a handful of bags came out, then nothing! While waiting for them, my mom’s flight landed and she was headed to her baggage claim. So I gave up and went and gave my tag number to DME for them to deal with it.
We had a nice little reunion when I finally found her and then waited quite a while for her luggage, as she didn’t trust DME to pick it up. We made it back down to the DME area, scanned our bands and were ushered into an empty queue for our bus. I was nervous, thinking we had just missed one and would have to wait for one to fill up. But maybe about 5 minutes later they were letting us onto a bus about 2/3 full heading to MK resorts! I think we were the second stop and were ready for our first stay at the Grand Floridian!
As we were pulling into the Grand, it started to POUR. We got off the bus and mom waited to grab our bags and tip the driver while I went over to online check in in the main building because that’s where we were dropped off and no one told me otherwise. It took a few minutes but was pretty painless and then she did tell me I’d have to go to the concierge desk in the Villas and pick up the rest of my info. Uh okay, then why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place? No big deal but we were just in a slight rush to get to dinner! Mom ran over to buy us ponchos while I finished up so we could walk over to the Villas without getting soggy!
Over we went and my gosh that lobby is just so lovely! We quickly got our packet and headed up to our room on the 5th floor (had requested high floor and I got it, score!) Naturally, the Magic Bands didn’t let us into our room! Thankfully we had KTTW still and that let us right in
Few quick pictures of the room and a freshen up / get extra stuff out of bags for touring and we were off to Epcot without a free moment to spare!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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pounds! Some quick movement of a sweater and some shoes and I’m at 51.5 and in the clear, whew, paying $100 off the bat would have been less than ideal. My AA status now allows me two free checked bags, which will be my new plan of packing attack rather than dealing with that disaster regularly.
~ Jenn 
PassPorter Guide Author
*Melissa
Liz 
Deb
Guess where we were headed??
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