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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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12-12-2012, 06:10 AM
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#1
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Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Florida & Maine
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 3,411
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A December TR - Mostly Live, Mostly Pics, A Dog, ADRS, and More ...
I just finished Part 1 of my Winter Trifecta of Trips to The World last week(See Sig Links for that TR and the Trifecta PTR). And, it's already time to do Part 2 - the December Trip.
I thought I'd try to do it "Mostly Live" - meaning the updates will be within a day or so of occurring. As usual, this report will be photo heavy.
The backstory for the trip is explained in detail in the Trifecta PTR, but the short version is:
1) Rented points for a 2 night stay at a VWL 1 Bedroom to check out Christmas Decorations
2) Added 2 nights at BCV to check it out as a potential future DVC acquisition
3) ADRs for all 4 nights, so there will be food pics
4) Planned events include the Candlelight Processional, and attempts to photograph Wishes and Illuminations
This trip came together perfectly in the planning stages. Then it almost didn't happen (and, I'm still not sure we'll make all 4 nights as planned). After my November Solo Trip, I came down with the dreaded cold and cough. Felt really lousy for 3 days, and the cough and fatigue have been lingering. Then Lou (DH) woke up with the start of a cold on the day before the trip. I offered to cancel, but he's a trooper and said let's give it a shot.
The Dog
A big unknown for this trip is how our dog (Natasha) will handle boarding for the first time. She is booked into her very own Villa at Best Friend's Pet Care here in WDW. Her nickname is "velcro dog," and she insists on knowing where we are 24/7. We started out yesterday morning with Natasha jumping into the car - she sees a suitcase, she goes to the car. After a 2.5 hour drive to Orlando, we pulled into Best Friends:
Natasha looking pensively all around as I get her "stuff" out. This is a big place and we can hear lots of barking dogs. We enter the facility (I'll get some more pics later, when we go visit). After a lengthy check-in process with a rather grim gal, Natasha happily prances off with a couple of younger gals who were giving her lots of attention. It's been over 14 hours and there have been no SOS calls from the Boarding Facility, so perhaps she hasn't wreaked havoc yet.
After that ordeal was over, we continued on to the Wilderness Lodge - not all that far from Best Friends. We had encountered some rain on our drive North, but it was just cloudy when we checked in. I had done online check-in, and everything went smoothly.
We had a 1 bedroom Villa on the second floor - about 2/3 of the way down the lengthy hallway. We were also given Buttons to celebrate our 35th Anniversary 
I'm going to go ahead and post quite a few pics of the Villa here. I usually always forget to take pics of the room, but since we just hung out for a couple of hours, I remembered to take the pics before we made a mess.
Looking back at the Entry Way - lots of room here, as well as some storage
The Living Room - decent sized with comfortable seating. I would normally not let Lou out of the house with those weird socks and shorts, but I cut him some slack since he didn't feel well:
The Kitchen Area (Note - that counter is not blue, must be the way the light shines - it's green)
A Closer Look at the Kitchen (Is it just the Studios that use paper plates instead of real?)
A door with cute woodsy cutouts - behind which lies the stacked washer and dryer
A view of the "right" side of the bathroom - sink, shower, toilet. Lots of room
A view into the "left" side of the bathroom (adjoining rooms - kind of weird, but lots of space). The door at the back opens to a large closet/utility space. Easily big enough to store a couple of screaming kids.
The Master Bedroom:
View from the Living Room Balcony - Trees. I believe we are facing away from the pool area. It doesn't really matter with most of these rooms, since all you see are trees anyway. We knew that when we picked VWL as our Home Resort, and no regrets so far.
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