National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! PRE-TRIP AND DURING TRIP REPORT COMPLETED - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Can I still get the points if I didn't book direct through them? I went through other websites, as they were much cheaper than the Hilton and I'm not sure I can claim the points?
As long as you include your Hhonors number when you check in and it is reflected on your bill, I think you can... can't hurt to try!
All caught up, and just in time! You're departure date is fast approaching! I love the way your mind works, Cheryl. Always trying to squeeze in just one more thing to see - even if it is hundreds of miles away. Love it! I'm so glad the flights finally worked out for you. BTW, what are your plans while in Chicago? Any meets.....?????
FYI, when Club Quarters started out it was strictly geared towards busniness travellers. It was a "club" hotel for companies to join which provided just the amenities business travellers needed and nothing else. (no pool, no bar, usually no fine dining restaurants, ((ie, extra hotel expenses)) etc..) I used to book them in New York, Boston, and Chicago back in my corporate travel agent days. Since then (2001-ish), they must be hard-up for more income as they've opened up to the general public. I think they've added more amenities since then as well (most of my corporate travelers did not want to stay there since they didn't have a bar.... ) I saw the one in NY in 2000 and it was very basic, yet very nice. I don't think you'll be terribly disappointed!
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Pre-trip report – part seven: the final bits drop into place...
I figured that I’d do some scanning and then print out the pages we needed from most of them and settled on taking just two with us – my faithful Frommer’s to cover all the national parks we’d be visiting, along with my trusty PassPorter’s Disney Cruise Line..... Of course, by the time I’d finished with all the printing, I had a wad of paper about two inches thick, which still weighed a fair bit, although it would surely be less than all the various guidebooks? By the time I’d finished, I weighed both the pile of paper up and a guidebook and they weighed about the same. Well, that was still a weight saving all the same...
I do this - as well as print my word document of notes (right now my week in California is 20+ pages) and all our hotel confirmations, plane tickets, etc etc etc -- I end up with a huge packet - in our house it is referred to as "the packet of power"... If I tried to take all the books... well needless to say - baggage would be a bigger issue for us than it is now.
For Alaska - my one piece of advice is LAYER!! Wind breaker, fleece, sweatshirt, light weight t-shirt... with those layers - you should be fine at any of your locations. Some of them are quite high and will be cooler than say.... FLORIDA.
It's getting close! Just a few more days! Definitely plan on hot weather at DLR. Today's going to be quite hot, I can already tell. It'll probably be like this for a few more days...hopefully it will cool off a bit by the time you get here, but plan for it to be at least in the mid to upper 80's, and DLR always feels hotter than the forecast (probably because of all the concrete and steel absorbing the heat all around you!).
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Just catching up on your exciting trip. I so love our national parks, I wish I could see them all.
I have stayed in many Homewood Suites throughout the country. When we traveled as a family of five, they were the best option. We have always been more than satisfied. While they don't usually have huge ornate lobbies, the rooms are nice enough and we always loved having a kitchen. The breakfasts and snacks do vary quite a bit from decent and adequate to really nice. One I used to stop at on my way to picking one of my kids up at school, had the best breakfast, comparable to some buffets. We also would always grab some yogurt and fruit at breakfast to either keep in the room or to take with us on a drive.
You can get Hilton points as long as you didn't book through Priceline or Hotwire. You can also call reservations and see if they will match an online price. I find that the pre-pay rate on the Hilton website can be a dollar or two cheaper than the on line vendors.
Also Hilton lets you double point-you can get both airline and Hilton Honors points, so make sure you preferred airline milage account is noted in your honors account.
Thanks for the review of them and the update on the points.
I think a stop at a laundromat should be on your itinerary too. Sounds like you have quite a few nice meets to look forward too.
Now come on - did you expect me NOT to have that planned? I'm planning at least one or maybe two washes on board the Wonder, then at the Old Faithful Inn, as that has a laundrette. seriously that's all planned in!
I have a scene in my mind of you sitting at a rather large table with what looks like a jigsaw puzzle. At close glance, it's your travel plans. There you are, putting it all together, piece by piece.
Once finished will you glue it together and frame it?? After all that work, you should!
All caught up, and just in time! You're departure date is fast approaching! I love the way your mind works, Cheryl. Always trying to squeeze in just one more thing to see - even if it is hundreds of miles away. Love it! I'm so glad the flights finally worked out for you. BTW, what are your plans while in Chicago? Any meets.....?????
FYI, when Club Quarters started out it was strictly geared towards busniness travellers. It was a "club" hotel for companies to join which provided just the amenities business travellers needed and nothing else. (no pool, no bar, usually no fine dining restaurants, ((ie, extra hotel expenses)) etc..) I used to book them in New York, Boston, and Chicago back in my corporate travel agent days. Since then (2001-ish), they must be hard-up for more income as they've opened up to the general public. I think they've added more amenities since then as well (most of my corporate travelers did not want to stay there since they didn't have a bar.... ) I saw the one in NY in 2000 and it was very basic, yet very nice. I don't think you'll be terribly disappointed!
Thanks for the background on them.
And as for meets, well.... see what Heather posted below!
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Sounds like you have quite a few nice meets to look forward too.
) I saw the one in NY in 2000 and it was very basic, yet very nice. I don't think you'll be terribly disappointed!
PassPorter Guide Author
seriously that's all planned in! 
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