A Dream is a Wish--Mini-TR [UPDATED WITH PIX posts 316 & 320] - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 don't think I've ever seen the canoes running either, now you say it. We've been on the Columbia once and loved it. I bet it's running every day now, given it's summer season, but I wonder whether it will be later in the year...
I sure hope to do at least one of these! Interesting that you haven't seen the canoes either.
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You are so right, that it's the serendipitous moments that make the magic! Plan, plan, plan, and then when you get there, go with the flow and take advantage of whatever pops up. I hope your little guy is still into the characters because he's adorable meeting them!
Right! Sure hope he's still into it and we can take advantage of those things we can't plan!
I had gotten up to almost 60% of full cost for this trip (and remember, that would mean also nearly 60% for SE Asia for June 2016 as well. BUT...
In July I paid my 2+ years of back phone bills (that I kept forgetting about since my parents are the ones that get the bill and they pay automatically). That was over $2000. And then, we were offered a very good deal on a car...so there went another $1500, not including the increase cost of living involved in insuring 2 vehicles. So, I'm down to 31% to goal.
DH and I have started talking about the possibility that we won't be able to go to SE asia after all, but I do think it's possible still. We will need to cut our cost of living after rent to under 800 per month. That's for food, gas, insurance, electric, phone, and all misc. I think I should start a challenge thread over at The Office!
OK, that's the story here! I heard a rumor that Vict. Secret is going to DC my favorite bra, so I want to stock up...dang it! There's always a reason to spend $!!!!
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Sorry about all the big expenses popping up. That's life! If anyone can recoup and meet the challenge, though, you can. I believe!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Laurie!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sorry about the unexpected expenses, especially as your saving had been going so well.
Thanks for commiserating, Cheryl. It's not bad luck or anything, it's just a trip set-back. We've needed a more reliable car for a while, and this one was a dream, owned by a friend of the family who passed away. The phone bill, well, no one's fault but my own for not paying better attention. My parents are very supportive and generous, so they never mention it. I just lost track for a while!
DH and I have similar views of money, but he doesn't NOT like playing games or making savings fun, like I do. He just wants me to tighten my belt and get on with life, but for me, I do better if I have a fun way to stay motivated. I'm off to start that Office thread!
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I started both an office thread and a kitchen thread to keep me motivated with savings. It's been fun and a few folks have joined me in the savings challenge.
Big Change to Plans:
I got a call from my dear sis last night. They ran into some parenting challenges this week and didn't feel like they could talk to many people about it (it was about their son's misbehavior and they felt judged by friends.) After realizing that in this case, blood was definitely thicker than water, they have decided to join us on our trip.
I have mixed feelings about this. DS and his cousin do sometimes fight, which I HATE. I hate hearing kids bicker more than just about anything else.
Then, there is my BIL. Love him, but he's kind of a pain. He makes a habit of getting bent out of shape by some minor slight and then giving everyone the silent treatment. He's from a quieter, more considerate family than ours. We're much more "If you have something to say, get your elbows out and push into the conversation." We're loud, forward, and argumentative. It's just our way! So, there's lots of hurt feelings that are totally unintentional, but it's a lot of work to avoid it. Then my sis gets grouchy cause her man is having a hissy-fit. Blech....
But, the upside is that I love spending time with my sis at Disney. She's as much a fan as I am (ok, she doesn't post on boards, but she loves it still). She and I used to fight all the time, and we are very different people, but I think that history makes us enjoy our adult sister-friendship even more. One of our earliest really fun times together as adults was age 21(me) and 19(her) with our mom at WDW. It was my first time there, and we had so much fun!
So, that's a huge plus. They boys will keep each other entertained a lot of the time, so that's a huge plus too.
The house technically does sleep "11", but that's kind of ridiculous. It will be tight. Yes, there is diningroom seating for 8, and that's what we are, but it's going to be tight tight tight. But, we'll make it work.
If we knew they were coming, we would have booked a larger place, I think. We're now less than 90 days away, and so we can't cancel. (Or maybe, we can but with a penalty.) Soo, we'll just have to roll with it.
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I hope things run smoothly with the extra people in the mix! I hate having to tiptoe around people and it can be hard when you're all living in the same space. But as you say, it does have its up-sides, too, and how can you not help your sister to get through a tough time?
Hopefully all will work well with adding your sister and her family into the mix!
Thanks! My sis and I have a super-supportive relationship. I just don't like the added complication. I could actually live with my parents...well...they get on my nerves eventually, but we regularly chose to spend time with them. Like, a lot. My sis's relationship with them is rockier. It just complicates things.
I hope things run smoothly with the extra people in the mix! I hate having to tiptoe around people and it can be hard when you're all living in the same space. But as you say, it does have its up-sides, too, and how can you not help your sister to get through a tough time?
Yeah, and there's only 1.5 bathrooms in the place... thank goodness for that 1/2 bath! It means we won't be eating on property as much, most likely.
My sis's situation isn't a big deal, but she realised that when she needs to talk to someone who will be supportive and non-judgemental, you can't beat family.
Lots of and for everything going well with the additional folks. Hopefully, the upsides will outnumber the downsides.
Thanks, Cam. It really does change the vibe of the trip completely. Before, it was me and my dad doing our Disney thing, with spouses and kiddo in tow. Now it's going to be much more complex, keeping everyone happy.
With the addition of DNephew, I'm now thinking a character meal is in order. DS wanted one, but no one else in the family was going to be into it. My dad would hate that! But now, I can go with Dsis and family. That might be very cool. We would probably go on a non-park day, which means Goofy's kitchen, right?
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We've been on the Columbia once and loved it. I bet it's running every day now, given it's summer season, but I wonder whether it will be later in the year... 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
with challenging yourself!
for everything going well with the additional folks. Hopefully, the upsides will outnumber the downsides.
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