Returning to our Happy Place: Pre-trip report - UPDATED 09/08 - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Getting excited for your trip already. We've always wanted to go in Mid September but late August/early September is the closest we've come. I hear that is a perfect time to go. Anxious to see how it goes!
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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
Congrats on being able to go back, and to get Pop with free dining!
Thanks! We are pretty excited!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disdadnmi
Getting excited for your trip already. We've always wanted to go in Mid September but late August/early September is the closest we've come. I hear that is a perfect time to go. Anxious to see how it goes!
Brent
Our first trip was late August/Early September and it was great. We just decided to go a little later than that this year because 1) I really wanted it closer to our birthdays and 2) I really want to go to the MNSSHP.
Glad you are following along. I always enjoy reading your Trip reports.
Quote:
Originally Posted by buzzspal2
Congrats on pop and free dining.
Thanks! Glad you are following along!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Congrats on getting free dining and Pop!
Thanks so much!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
Yay!! We just stayed at POP and we loved it!!! Glad you got the resort you wanted
Thanks! I just found your trip report too! We really love POP too. We don't get to spend much time there since we tend to go from open to close at the parks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
more please
Coming right up! Glad to have you along!
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Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:
Now that we knew our dates and knew that we would be on the Dining plan (upgraded to table service plan) we needed to decide on transportation. We have made two previous family trips to WDW. On our first trip we left Louisiana around 3:30 am and drove to Gainsville. We got a hotel room there, drove around the campus of the University of Florida and had dinner. The next morning we got up early and drove the last 2 hours to make it to WDW. Once we drove that last leg of the trip Scott felt like he really could have driven the rest of the way the day before. So on our second trip, we decided to do it a little differently. We left home at around 6pm after work and Scott wanted to drive the whole way. We drove through the night and made it to WDW around 7:30 am. We went straight to the parks and started our vacation. By the 3rd day we were exhausted!
This year things are different. Abby is starting Kindergarten and we will be pulling her out of school. We are also going to the beach this summer so we are trying to miss as little work as possible while maximizing our Disney time. We also put all of our costs down on paper and the difference between driving (including gas, lodging and meals on the way, miles put on the car -this would be the 3rd trip to WDW, 1400 miles round trip) and flying is only about $200. When Scott and I talked about it his response was, “How much is your time worth?” I agreed and so this year we are FLYING!!
We booked a direct flight last week with Southwest airlines out of New Orleans. For 3 people plus the early bird check in, it was $910.00. I am not sure if this is a good price or not but it’s done and we are excited to be flying this year. We live about 2 hours from New Oreleans, so we will be leaving after work on Monday Sept 17th at about 6pm to avoid the Baton Rouge traffic. We will be staying at an airport hotel in N.O. and will be leaving the car parked there for Free.
We are very excited to be flying….it will be a first time flying for Abby and I. At some point before our trip, we will go to our local airport (2o minutes away) and let her see how all of the security procedures work as this was recommended by some great PP’s here. Hopefully this will make things go smoothly when we are there and she will be prepared for the whole process.
Up Next:
Planning our ADRs.
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Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:
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Congrats on the flights! That sounds like a good price to me, plus you will have so much more time for your vaccation by skipping the drive. We usually take an 18 hour drive to WDW from NJ, but this year we're going to fly. I'm super excited about all the extra time we will have for Disney!
Congrats on the flights! That sounds like a good price to me, plus you will have so much more time for your vaccation by skipping the drive. We usually take an 18 hour drive to WDW from NJ, but this year we're going to fly. I'm super excited about all the extra time we will have for Disney!
Thanks you guys! I checked today and our flight from New Orleans to Orlando has gone up by $58 for each ticket! I am so glad I bought them when I did!
__________________
Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:
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.
Sorry no big update tonight. We have had a crazy week! A good family friend finally lost her battle to cancer on Monday night and then Abby woke up in middle of the night crying with ear pain. We haven't had an ear infection in a long time but I decided not to play around with it and took her in to see the doctor on Tuesday. Not only did she have an ear infection but she also has bronchitis!! She had just really started to have a little cough so I felt like a terrible mom when the doctor said that! My poor baby! The ear seems to be better but the cough is actually sounding worse. She has never had bronchitis so I am not sure exactly what to expect and how to tell if it is getting worse. Anyone have any experience with this?
On a more happy and Disneyish note...I pre-ordered the photo pass CD. I am going to try to get as many magic shots as possible this trip. I'll try to share some of the ones we have gotten in the past in my next update and maybe you guys can help me see which ones we haven't gotten yet.
I also ordered this today:
I know lots of you have this. I can't wait for it to come in. Maybe it will help us get excited about our trip!
Hopefully I can get a planning update tomorrow with our ADR plans!
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Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:
Sorry for your loss! And pixies for Abby! DD had bronchitis once, but she went thru the 10 days regiment of meds, it still didn't clear up (fever came back, cough never went away), so they switched meds and in another 10 days it was finally gone!
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) we needed to decide on transportation. We have made two previous family trips to WDW. On our first trip we left Louisiana around 3:30 am and drove to Gainsville. We got a hotel room there, drove around the campus of the University of Florida and had dinner. The next morning we got up early and drove the last 2 hours to make it to WDW. Once we drove that last leg of the trip Scott felt like he really could have driven the rest of the way the day before. So on our second trip, we decided to do it a little differently. We left home at around 6pm after work and Scott wanted to drive the whole way. We drove through the night and made it to WDW around 7:30 am. We went straight to the parks and started our vacation. By the 3rd day we were exhausted! 
and we will be pulling her out of school. We are also going to the beach this summer so we are trying to miss as little work as possible while maximizing our Disney time. We also put all of our costs down on paper and the difference between driving (including gas, lodging and meals on the way, miles put on the car -this would be the 3rd trip to WDW, 1400 miles round trip) and flying is only about $200. When Scott and I talked about it his response was, “How much is your time worth?” I agreed and so this year we are FLYING!!
I am so glad I bought them when I did!
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