Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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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.
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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.
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11-24-2003, 08:41 AM
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#1
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Statelady & Chezp\'s London Adventure: COMPLETED!!!
We are about to begin our TR! Just a few words before we get started:
We'll start it with DH and I- our journey over and our first day before we met up with Chezp and Mark. Then, we'll post together so you get two different perspectives and photos will be added a few installments after we start.
Here we go!
PRE TRIP and BACKGROUND
This trip began as an impulse purchase. We had just bought air for our July trip to Disney and I was surfing the Passporter Boards that same night. Someone (and I don’t remember who- but thank you!) posted a thread about a 12-hour sale at British Airways.com. Curious to see just how good it was- I headed over to the British Airways Website and was shocked to find that during late October and November- fares to London from Dallas (which is about 325 miles from here) were as low as $99 each way! I got Kevan, my husband to come look it over and I asked him if he thought we could work this out as an early tenth anniversary gift. The time was 10:30 pm and the sale was ending at midnight. He called his mom and disappeared into our bedroom to talk to her about it. About 30 minutes later, he came out and told me that she would take the kids for 5 days (again, as she was doing it in July too for my birthday) and that she thought it was a great deal that we would be crazy not to take up. Luckily, we still had some tax refund left so that would certainly help with the cost. As we started booking, he kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do it- as I am a very fearful flyer but I thought after flying to WDW in July, I would have more practice and I was determined to get over it and see the world so I reassured him, that I would go through with it. At 11:30 pm, just 30 minutes before time ran out, we booked our air. Two of us from Dallas Fort Worth to London Gatwick with all taxes and fees for $540.00.
Kevan had been to Europe in high school but I had never been overseas. My mother absolutely loved London and told me wonderful things about it so both of us were really excited about this opportunity. I also very much loved and admired Princess Di, so this was especially exciting in that regard. Kevan had wanted to return to Europe ever since we met, so I knew this would be a great trip for him as well.
Soon after we bought the tickets- I posted a thread in the Globetrotting Section asking for a few recommendations about hotels in London. Cheryl (chezp) was the first to reply and first through PM’s, then emails a wonderful friendship began to flourish. As the next few months went by, she and her husband Mark decided to celebrate their anniversary in London and we arranged to have a meet. This friendship became quite strong through the months. I was so happy when they decided to stay at the Rembrandt as well. I was thrilled beyond belief when they offered to bring us to Maidstone and have us spend a night with them. We quickly took them up on their generous offer and that became one of the BIG highlights of the trip!
The next months just flew by and before we knew it, November 12 was upon us! |
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