Horses, Harbours and Happenings:Steve and Sue visit Chincoteague and Hilton Head, May 2009! - COMPLETE - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Anyway...this year there would be no big trip to WDW due to budget constraints. That's the politically correct way of saying OH MY WORD WE HAVE A SON GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR! When my future DDiL said "yes", we said "no" to a big trip this year. But we were OK with that, and went ahead with planning a few smaller, driving trips.
One place we really wanted to go back to was Hilton Head Island. We had stayed overnight at Disney's HHI in 2004 as we were passing through on our way home from Florida, and really only got a tiny taste of island life. It's about a 12 hour drive from us, so that was doable. We were going to drive down on Sunday, May24, and come home on Saturday, May 30th. I whipped out my DVC card and called at my...oh about...6 1/2 month DVC booking window to see what I could get for the last week of May.
Who knew that HHI was so popular on Memorial Day weekend? And who knew that they were limited on 1 bedrooms? And who knew that they held some of the rooms for cash? So I booked May 26, 27, 28, and 29, and waitlisted for May 24 and 25.
And waited....
And waited...
And waited some more. I called to book my DoD trip and checked. Got that, but no availability at HHI yet. I called to do an RCI exchange. Got that, but no availibility at HHI yet. I called to book a treehouse for January 2010. Got that, but no availability at HHI yet.
Hmmmm. What to do.
We had a few choices. One was to pay cash somewhere for a few nights in HHI. I wasn't keen on that one because I hate changing resorts. The second one was to just go Tuesday to Saturday. I didn't like that one either, because it seemed like alot of driving for a short vacation. And then there was option 3....
I started to think about combining 2 vacations into one. Where could we stay on the way down that would be something we could enjoy, and that we both wanted to do?
(Aside here....I have a "bucket list" on my computer. It used to be called "Things to do before I die" but the after the movie of the same name, "bucket list" seemed so much more appealing!)
So I took a quick perusal down my bucket list. Hmmmm....Glacier National Park is nowhere near South Carolina, so that's out. Italy? I don't believe we can drive there... Assateague Island...
STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!
Oh baby, we are SO there! After all, I love horses!
And so the planning began....
Wait!!!
What do you mean you don't know what Assateague Island is famous for?? Assateague Island Assateague Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) is a small barrier island off the coast of Maryland. Depending on which part of it you are in, it is governed by the State of Maryland or the National Park Service. And right down the road a piece is Chincoteague Island, which is a tiny island sandwiched between mainland Virginia and Assateague Island. Chincoteague is a fun and funky shore town, with restaurants, shops, hotels and people. Assateague is wild and untamed, basically uninhabited except by campers and the NPS. Oh and of course, the wildlife.
Ah yes. The wildlife.
Assateague Island boasts a herd (actually 2) of wild ponies. They are really full size horses, but the locals and visitors alike who love them and protect them have given them the title "ponies". The NPS and state government protect these wild creatures to assure they are there for future generations to enjoy.
Did I happen to mention, I love horses?
One of the items on my bucket list was to be able to see the wild ponies. And now I had a chance to make it happen. I ran this by Steve, who had never heard of Assateague or Chincoteague, but, good guy that he is, he just said "sure, dear, whatever you want." (Do I have him trained or what! )
And on I went to stage two of the pre-planning!
Next...where should we stay and what should we do?
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.
About This Page: 
When my future DDiL said "yes", we said "no" to a big trip this year. But we were OK with that, and went ahead with planning a few smaller, driving trips. 
Assateague Island...
)
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Threaded Mode
