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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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One month was a good amount of time to be gone. It allowed us to tour various parts of Portugal. I am looking forward to the day when we retire and can spend 3-4 months in Portugal.
Food:
We had some great meals, but we need to be better organized for the home part of our trip, including taking some spices with us. The home part is always difficult, as we never know when family will have us over for dinner so it is hard to figure out how many meals to buy for.
Hotels:
We really liked all 3 of our hotels, if it is just the two of us we will stay at the same hotel in Lisbon and the Algarve next time, and we will definitely stay in a Pousada again.
Sites:
Since this was our fourth trip to Portugal we had already seen the more touristy attractions, it was nice to venture out and see the more rural areas. Definitely we will visit Sintra on our next trip and stay in this area for a few days, I feel we really didn’t see enough there.
I am hoping to have a family trip in 2015 with the DD’s in early spring; it all depends on their jobs at the time.
Final costs:
Gas: $160.96 charged in CDN to the credit card
Gas: € 146.76
Restaurants in Canada: $ 205.25
Restaurants in Portugal: € 703.65
Groceries: € 251.83
Souvenirs: € 698.22
Tolls: € 115.28
Hotels (all paid by credit card, so Cdn funds): $ 1908.08
Air fare: $2066.44
Canada Tips: $27.00
Portugal tips: € 141.25
Car rental (paid by credit card so Cdn funds): $1247
Portugal car fee: € 60.00
Canada internet at hotel: $13.25
Portugal internet: € 109.70
Portugal parking: € 3.70
Chair rental at beach: € 20.00
Tours: € 202.40
Metro: € 46.95
Money spent on house or stuff to stay in Portugal: €683.41
Total in Cdn $5627.58
Total in € 3183.15
If you total all the costs, flights, hotel, etc. and divide by the number of days away and the number of people it cost the following per person per day: $146.85 (mix of Canadian and Euros).
Also for fun I tracked my trip with my DD’s to Disneyworld and my DH’s solo trip (split hotel with friends) to Vegas to see what was the best bang for our buck. I know that length of stay really alters the cost but this is what I found.
Average cost per day per person at Disney, staying on site, with free dining at a moderate hotel: $251.99 (if paying for food $293.72).
Average cost per day per person in Vegas: $587.03.
Took 2343 pictures
Drove 3015 km
Used 165.3 L of gas
Thank you everyone for following along, I hope I provided some information that would be useful if anyone travels to Portugal.
PS. Thank you to my darling, wonderful, fantastic first born child for editing this trip report and being generally awesome.
PSS Obviously my DD added that last part, but she is pretty awesome.
VERY good value for your vacation dollar! Very interesting cost breakdown, especially when compared with the Disney trip. A longer visit is so much more affordable when pricing the daily costs as you can spread out the big chunk of airfare throughout the month. You certainly piqued my interest in returning to Portugal and doing more exploring. It will be wonderful when you can spend more time there. (I love your DD's comment at the end!)
VERY good value for your vacation dollar! Very interesting cost breakdown, especially when compared with the Disney trip. A longer visit is so much more affordable when pricing the daily costs as you can spread out the big chunk of airfare throughout the month. You certainly piqued my interest in returning to Portugal and doing more exploring. It will be wonderful when you can spend more time there. (I love your DD's comment at the end!)
I think Portugal still remains a relatively cheap place to visit, of course for us having the house helps with the cost.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
Thank you for an excellent trip report and summary. I'm going to bookmark your report, in hopes we will someday be able to travel to Portugal.
And, thank you to your awesome first born DD
Hopefully one day you can make it, it sure is hard with so many beautiful places to visit, just following the globetrotting forums I am finding so many places to go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great wrap up! to you and your DD for sharing your travels in Portugal with us.
I am lucky she is one pretty smart cookie, if I could only get her to try out for Jeopardy, then we would have the money to travel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What a great wrap up and an amazing trip! Thanks so much for taking us along for the ride!
Thanks for following along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great wrap-up to a wonderful trip report. I can't get over how much you spent each day - that's really low.
Yes it really works out to a low amount when you stay for a month.
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to you and your DD for sharing your travels in Portugal with us.
Thanks so much for taking us along for the ride! 
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