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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Who: Jennifer (me, 39), dd 5, mother(70)
When: November 4-8
Where: Disney Wonder, Nassau, Castaway Cay
TRAVEL DAY(S)
We began our trip on November 3. My daughter and I were leaving from Indiana and were meeting my mother at the airport in Orlando on the morning of the 4th. I had to work until 5pm that day and we left directly, dropped the dogs off at a kennel and drove to an airport hotel. We participated in the park, sleep and fly program. It was a great deal. For the same price as it would cost to park at the airport, we got to stay in a nice hotel with an indoor heated pool and start our vacation a day early. We also got a free pizza delivered to our room as part of the deal. We swam and ate and went to bed early, our flight was at 7am on November 4 so we needed to get the 4:45am shuttle to the airport. Luckily, it was the night of the time change, so we actually got to sleep in an hour, but it made dinners a bit more difficult for the next few days.
Sunday, November 4, arrived and I had no problem waking my little girl, she was very excited. We both were up and dressed with no problem by 4:30am. Unfortunately, the hotel had advertised breakfast starting at 4:00am, but when we went downstairs we were told it didn't start until 6am . I had some snacks along, so that would have to be our breakfast. I was able to grab some coffee to start my day and we were on the shuttle at 4:45am. A short ride to the airport, a quick checkin and we were waiting for our plane. I had brought along some card games for our travel time (glad I did they came in handy throughout the trip) and my daughter and I played UNO and Big Fish until the plane boarded. As soon as the plane took off, she was out and slept until the plane landed. It gave me a chance to read some of the books I had brought along. The plane landed a little early, right before 9am. We jumped on the monorail shuttle and made it over to the B side. My mother was already there and checked in for the Disney Cruise Line Shuttle. There wasn't much of a line at all. My daughter sat with my mother while I checked us in. We were to be on the first bus over to the terminal The bus left the airport at 9:50am and arrived at Port Canaveral at 10:40am. We were able to see the boat about 5 minutes before we arrived. It was beautiful On the trip over they played informational videos about the cruise. It was a nice trip in the bus and was comfortable. My 5 year old wasn't bored at all, she enjoyed the trip. Someone came on the bus very briefly and told us where to go and what to do. We jumped off the bus, went straight through security, checked in for the cruise and checked my daughter into the Oceanears Club all before 11am. There was no wait for anything, I was surprised. We grabbed a couch in front of the cartoons and watched cartoons and played UNO until they started boarding the boat at about 11: 40am. We were in group 4 and were on the boat before 12pm
Great start! Everything went really smooth, that is GREAT!! It is too bad when we have to start our vacations sooo early in the morning! I hope the rest of the trip is rest and relaxation!
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We walked through the Mickey door and walked down the hallway. They took our picture before getting on board, but it wasn't a good picture. My daughter hid behind my leg. We didn't buy this picture later . We walked onto the boat and they announced our family. We were then herded towards Parrot Cay. We went that way and then went up the elevators near there up to Beach Blanket Buffet. The line was very short and the food was great. We went to the very back of the ship and sat at an outdoor table. I especially liked the cucumber salad and tomatoes. My daughter enjoyed the macaroni and cheese ( a theme to be revisited) and my mother enjoyed the desserts, she tried a bit of each dessert.
After eating we split up. My mother went to explore the ship. My daughter and I went to put on our bathing suits. We couldn't find a good place to put on our suits, we ended up using the bathroom at Beach Blanket Buffet. The stall was very small and there was a crowd in there. When we got out, there were no chairs by the pool to put our stuff. We ended up using a chair at a table to put our bags. My daughter loved the pool but didn't want to use the slide She swam in the Mickey pool until about 1:15pm. We then dried off and went to wait for our room to open. We were at an inside stateroom on deck 7. On my previous cruise, to Alaska, I had a room with a porthole. I didn't know what to expect for an inside stateroom.
At exactly 1:30pm the rope was removed and we could go to our room. We walked in and had some surprises waiting for us. On the bed was a large bucket with beach toys and snacks for my daughter. She was very excited. The bucket even had her name on it. I had a Disney Cruise Line bag on the bed. On the table was the Chocolate covered strawberry and petit four platter. They accidently gave us alcohol when we requested sparkling cider, but one quick phone call brought us our sparkling cider. The platter was nice, but I expected more strawberries, there were two milk chocolate covered strawberries and two white chocolate covered strawberries. None of the petit fours were chocolate. Overall, I was happy with our gifts and my daughter delved into the snacks right away.
Jen...I hate that I missed seeing you on the ship. We were also on Deck 7 in 7070. It really was a wonderful cruise. Great start to your report. I can't wait to read more!!
__________________
Erin
"Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true."
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Erin,
We were in 7123, in the aft of the ship. I really loved the location. The inside stateroom was great. None of us were seasick and I didn't mind not being able to see outside. Hope you had a great time as well.
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. I had some snacks along, so that would have to be our breakfast. I was able to grab some coffee to start my day and we were on the shuttle at 4:45am. A short ride to the airport, a quick checkin and we were waiting for our plane. I had brought along some card games for our travel time (glad I did they came in handy throughout the trip) and my daughter and I played UNO and Big Fish until the plane boarded. As soon as the plane took off, she was out and slept until the plane landed. It gave me a chance to read some of the books I had brought along. The plane landed a little early, right before 9am. We jumped on the monorail shuttle and made it over to the B side. My mother was already there and checked in for the Disney Cruise Line Shuttle. There wasn't much of a line at all. My daughter sat with my mother while I checked us in. We were to be on the first bus over to the terminal
The bus left the airport at 9:50am and arrived at Port Canaveral at 10:40am. We were able to see the boat about 5 minutes before we arrived. It was beautiful 
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Pixie Dust
It is too bad when we have to start our vacations sooo early in the morning! 
, that's good to know.
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