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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I havebeen reading everyone's trip reports and decided to give it another try. I tried two years ago and never finished so I am going to try agian.
First let me give basic info on my little and our plans.
Who:
Me- 34 soon to be 35 year old nurse.
DH- 39 soon to be 40 year old engineer.
DS- the worlds cutest ans sweetest 3 year old (just my opinion)
When:
August 27-September 5, 2010
Where:
Our first trip to the Beach Club
Why:
To celebrate us as a family. It will be 3 years since we finalized our adoption of our son and now that he is starting to understand what adoption means I felt we should celebrate.
Plus, life has been stressful and extended family has been driving me nuts as usual. So why not celebrate my center and my rocks.
So glad you decided to write a PTR!!! For me, it's a wonderful way to countdown to the magical event!! Congratulations on the adoption-and what a great way to celebrate (at the BC none the less!!) Can't wait to follow along! Have fun planning!!!
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.
I will now start with the introductions.
First up is me .
I am a soon to be 35 year old (on March 23) nurse. I am a Pediatric nurse by trade, but am currently working as a Nursing Supervisor for a community hospital. I only work 5 shifts every two weeks (although they are night's), so I spend the rest of the time at home with my son. I don't do daycare, so I am extremely sleep deprived. But it is worth it to spend the time with my son. I have been to Disney four other times.
The first was when I was six with my dad and sister. I don't really remember much about the trip except for the Haunted Mansion. I really remember the ghost at the end of the ride and wanting to take one home. I do have a few pictures showing me from the trip. I was meeting Minnie in one and had a look of getting ready to fight any other little girl who got close to her.
For my next trip you have to fast forward to 2004. I convinced my husband that he and I should go to Disney on vacation. This is when the addiction truely began with WDW. We stay at POFQ for seven days. We drove down from Ohio just in time for Hurricane Francis. We were the only ones heading into Flordia at the time. For some reason everyone else was leaving, but Hurricane or not I was going to Disney!!!! We had a great time. (I did not have a digital camarea so no pictures are on my computer ). My husband then feel in love with Disney. It was the first time that I had ever seen him relaxed in our 5 years of marriage.
Fast forward again to 2008. We had not had a chance to get back do to saving money to adopt our son and building a new house (someone should have told us the housing market was going to fall, because we had two houses for over 2 years). I convinced my husband that we should take our son to Disney at the age of 1 almost two. I pointed that he would be FREE!. HE said ok. So we went at the end of September. Free dining, MNSSHP, and F&W here we come. This trip we stayed at CRB. I loved it. Here are a few pictures.
The best part of this trip was seeing my son Byron just light up with every little thing. When we were watching Specto one night he was sitting on my lap and keep turning around and giving me kisses and saying thank you . I still tear up just thinking about it.
So after this trip I knew we needed to get back soon.
I keep trying to figure out how and when to go back. After we got our tax return in 2009 I decided we needed to go. So I started to plan without telling DH. I decide that we could afford a Value Hotel. So I booked POP for same time as 2008. Then I took a new job at work and had to work some extra shifts to orient. I then brought up the trip to DH. He said sure. DS was still free so it was pretty cheap. My extra shifts paid for the trip. I thought about upgrading, but knew DS would love POP. (I had paid for and planned the trip before I even told DH ).
We had a great time. DS loved it even more than the year before.
So after we left I knew we needed to go back in 2010. I started planning again without telling DH. Then right after the first of the year I brought up going again. He said ok.
More pictures later with learning about the other travelers.
Awww... sweet memory!! Both our kiddos are adopted as well and during our last trip this past December we celebrated our son's homecoming from Guatemala. He is 4 so now that he gets it more we wanted to make it special. I ordered a cake and had it say "Happy Homecoming Alex" and he loved it. Make sure you get a celebration button and mention your celebrating your son's adoption on your ADRs.
DH is a 39 year old electrical engineer. He is a type A personality who is slowing falling in love with WDW.
His first trip was as an adult in 2004 with me. He had a great time and did say he want to go back. When we first stepped on to Main Street and looked at the Castle for the first time he was beaming. It was the first time in the five years we had been married that I saw him completely stress free.
After we adopted our son I said it we needed to take him to Disney. I pointed out he would be free since he was not yet three. He said sure. This trip was so magical for all of us. Here are a few pictures of father and son.
Sharing Disney with our son has made even more magical for our small family. DH is such a great dad and loves to see the smile on our sons face when he is at WDW. This trip was in the works before I told DH about it. One day DS out of the blue said that he wanted to ride the ghost ride at WDW. At that time DH said lets look into going back again this year. Of course I acted surprised and said sure.