How did that happen? PTR May 18-25, 2010 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I love hearing about newbies' trips! Sounds like you all will have a great time.
Hopefully going before Memorial Day will mean the crowds will be lower.
I think the advice is to aviod the EMH park, if you are not going to be there at rope drop, but if you get there that early, then that is a good time to go. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. We are not rope drop kind of people, so I've never been.
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Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
I love hearing about newbies' trips! Sounds like you all will have a great time.
Hopefully going before Memorial Day will mean the crowds will be lower.
I think the advice is to aviod the EMH park, if you are not going to be there at rope drop, but if you get there that early, then that is a good time to go. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. We are not rope drop kind of people, so I've never been.
I'd have to agree with Melissa. If you're not going to make it early enough to enjot EMH I'd avoid that park - we learned that lesson the hard way last June. In December we didn't go to parks with AM EMH because we just can't get there that early. We do enjoy PM EMH though.
Okay I guess I can’t leave it just at that. DH wants to be up bight and early to line up for his merchandise fastpass. He is dying for one of those Emperor Stitches. How early he’s getting up is undecided as of now but I know it’s early.
The kids and I will follow over later via bus to see the park opening. Asking the kids to wait in line early to get a fastpass to wait in line again later isn’t really fair to them. Plus if we all go together we have to entertain each other where if he goes alone he can read his book and relax with the other fans. We haven’t really ironed out the details of where exactly we will meet up and how, but I figure worse case we will find each other at some point.
Can’t say there are a huge amount of plans for the day. We plan on going with the flow for the most part as Star Wars will take center stage for Mike. We have lunch reservations planned for Sci-Fi and hoping that his plans will allow him to at least eat with us.
Today’s must-sees are Star Tours, of course, Hyper Space Hoopla, the Lights, Motors, Action show, Tower of Terror, and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. I would really like to see Sounds Dangerous, but as DH and DS both do not hear very well I am concerned that the show might not be enjoyable for them. Of course seeing and riding other things would be nice, but what I listed are our only requirements.
Day 5, Saturday, May 22, 2010
Today’s original plans had Mike returning to HS to get the autograph he wanted. However, he decided that he’d just go back Sunday and spend today with us in Epcot.
Today’s must-sees are Mission Space, Test Track, and Soarin. We also like to fit in Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and The Seas with Nemo. I would also love to see the Rock bagpipe band. I LOVE bagpipes!!
We have lunch reservations at Biergarten and dinner at Teppan Edo. Mike wants a Grand Marnier slush as well.
Day 6, Sunday, May 23, 2010
Today is an unknown day. Our first plan of business will be to fill in the gaps of any of our must-sees that we might have missed. Mike plans on heading over to HS to pick up any of Star Wars Weekend that he’s missing. We do have dinner reservations planned at either Kouzzina or Liberty Tree Tavern (Don’t worry I will cancel the one we are not going to use once we figure more out).
Day 7, Monday, May 24, 2010
The plan for today is the same as yesterday. It’s a fill in the gaps day. Only ADR we have today is Kouzzina.
Day 8, Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Today we leave. Our flight leaves just before 2pm so there are no plans for today other then to check out and head to the airport. We are unsure what today’s breakfast and lunch plans are. Figuring breakfast will be at the resort more then likely and then we’ll head out and get settled at the airport and grab lunch. If we still have any cash left, lol.
Sadly, our layover on today’s flight has been pushed to about 45 minutes so I am a bit worried about the day. I go back and forth between wanting to leave later but sadly we still have a two hours trip from the airport once we land home and with the kids planning on school the next day not really sure how much later we want to push the time getting home.
Others
Somewhere in all these plans I am supposed to meet up with my friend who lives near Disney, not exactly sure when yet. We also really want to hit up Disney Quest. The water parks are always an option but not a must see for us.
Since writing the first part of the trip report we decided to book the Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party. I understand it is not straight on as Main Street, but I really hate crowds. Well it’s not so much I hate crowds just that I seem to end up next to the most annoying person ever in a crowd. We will be attending that on Wednesday.
Also, Mike would like to find a good all you can eat crab place. He’s looking for the kinda place they dump crabs by the ton on the table in front of you. I wish we had gone with a 10-day trip but I booked long before I did the research. I also wish I had planned around a shuttle launch, but that’s okay I am still thrilled with the plans and can’t wait to arrive at the park, it will be such a sigh of relief to be in DISNEY!!!
Thanks everyone. I forgot how exhausting getting ready for vacation is. I did manage to get all the suitcases set up for everyone to start moving their things too. I am really getting anxious to get to the trip and have some fun!!