Trading Spaces May 16-22 pre-trip report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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First question? Do we have a room reservation? Answer: yes, but not at the place I would like. We've had some drama here and it has messed up my plans to move to Kidani. We thought dgf18 was not going to be allowed to come and we were only moving to accommodate 5 people. Now dgf18 is coming but I might have lost the ability to secure points from a private person. I've emailed the person, tried to assure her I'm not a flake - we'll see. The companies offering points have been a bust - I've applied to two (Timeshare store and DVC Rental Store) and neither one have points available - my reservation would be on hold on the chance they can secure points.
So as of today we have a reservation at POR. Could use some
Dining plans are better, not yet complete, but so far:
Sunday: dinner at Boma
Monday: lunch at Biergarten
Tuesday: Dinner at California Grill
I was really surprised to get CG at all so I'm very thankful for that. I was also surprised to see that there are still quite a few options available at various restaurants.
So, I'm going back to the drawing board on rooms. May switch to the yacht club if Kidani doesn't pan out. I don't want to be crammed in POR. Of course I'm assuming the rooms are bigger at the yacht club, I've never stayed at either, off to investigate.
Once Ethan my ds11 came on board this trip I was excited about the possibility of enrolling him in a physics class via the Disney Youth Education program. Not only is physics his thing and he was totally excited about it, also if you enroll park tickets are a good bit cheaper and he needs tickets. Sadly, May is one of the months the program isn't offered. Something to look forward to another time I hope.
We don't know how we are traveling down yet. My husband is hoping to fly but Southwest our usual carrier isn't cooperating with good prices. Neither is anyone else. We're trying to avoid Spirit out of Atlantic City but may succumb. We will probably drive down, we are definitely driving home.
Thursday, May 15
Last day of homeschool picnic until 1:30 pm
Lou will pick up rental minivan and pack it with Zach's help
Leave at 2 pm taking Rt 301 through DE to avoid the dreaded DC traffic nightmare
Stop for the night in Florence, SC
Friday, May 16
5:30 a.m. Wake up bright and early
1:00 p.m. Arrive at Royal Pacific Hotel Hopefully our room will be ready
2:00 p.m. Go to IOA, grab light lunch so as not to spoil our dinner
Both parks close at 6:00 pm this night due to Middle School GradNight
7:05 p.m. Tchoup Chop
After dinner we are hoping to catch the new Godzilla movie at CityWalk (I trust you all have May 16th highlighted in your calendar for this monumental event )
Saturday, May 17
USO Day - I don't think I will pay the extra money for park to park. Man, back in 2009 park to park 2 day was like $99 per person, it's almost doubled since then. This is Mardi Gras Night.
No meal plans yet
Sunday, May 18
8:00 Early entry to WW
Go back to room and check out
Return to IOA for more fun
another light lunch to save room for dinner
3:00 pm Head over to Kidani
5:55 pm Dinner at Boma
Extra Magic Hours at MK until 1 am (or as long as we can make it)
Monday, May 19
EPCOT Day (my dh and I have old park hoppers, not sure what we are getting for the kids yet)
1:05 pm Biergarten
Tuesday, May 20
Hollywood Studios
5:10 p.m. dinner at CG
We may go to DTD and then return to CG for fireworks
Wednesday, May 21
AK Day
No meals planned yet
Thursday, May 22
9:05 Breakfast at Boma
Check out
MK Day
Hoping for counter service at Be Our Guest
6:00 pm Leave
Stop at Savannah for the night
Friday, May 23
Leave by 7:00 a.m. so that at:
11:30 a.m. eat lunch at the Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar
5:30 p.m. arrive at my ds21's college in VA to bring him home for a long weekend (he works there in the summer )
9:00 p.m. Home sweet home
Next up: Special plans, new rides, and a few of our favorite things
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
We've had some drama here and it has messed up my plans to move to Kidani. We thought dgf18 was not going to be allowed to come and we were only moving to accommodate 5 people. Now dgf18 is coming but I might have lost the ability to secure points from a private person. I've emailed the person, tried to assure her I'm not a flake - we'll see. The companies offering points have been a bust - I've applied to two (Timeshare store and DVC Rental Store) and neither one have points available - my reservation would be on hold on the chance they can secure points. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Hopefully our room will be ready
)
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